THE WRITING PRIZE IS CLOSED NOW - THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED! WE ARE READING THE FINAL ENTRIES AND THE WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON.
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images on Pixabay
Welcome to The Ink Well Short Story Writing Prize
Welcome to The Ink Well's first short story writing prize! The Ink Well will have two writing prizes this year, this one and another in November. This time we are celebrating the Fiction Challenge which ran for 13 weeks from May to August 2020.
For this writing prize, The Ink Well is looking for fully developed and edited short stories with a complete story arc. Deadline for entries is 10am UTC on Monday 7 September 2020.
There is 100 Hive in prizes (1st 50 Hive, 2nd 25 Hive, 3rd 15 Hive and 4th 10 Hive) and entries will be curated by The Ink Well for @curie and @ocd votes. Only entries which are linked in a comment on this post will be eligible for the Writing Prizes.
How To Enter
The Ink Well is about encouraging high quality creative writing from story tellers. The Writing Prize is open to everyone, whether you are an experienced writer or just starting your writing journey. Please ensure you read and meet the Community Rules before submitting your entry.
You can choose one or all of the prompts below for your story.
Prompts for the Writing Prize
Option 1 - AI lover - "AI" is artificial intelligence
Option 2 - the gods will die
Option 3 - redemption
What You Need To Do - Rules of Entry
- using the prompts, write a story that has a minimum of 350 words.
- post it in The Ink Well Community.
- use the title format: "theinkwell writing prize | title of your story".
- include the tags: #theinkwell #writingprize #story.
- post a link in the comments of this post - this is your entry to the writing prize, don't forget to do it!
Only include the tag #posh if you are sharing your story on Twitter. If you share your story, include a link to the tweet in a comment on your post.
Remember, original work only - no plagiarism or re-posts!
The deadline is 10am UTC on Monday 7th September 2020.
What We Are Looking For
The Writing Prize is about encouraging and rewarding high quality creative writing. Stories are curated against the following criteria:
| Category | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Setting | Time and place the story is set and whether this affects the story. Has the writer created a world that is believable? |
| Plot and structure | What is the story arc? Does the story incorporate conflict, climax and resolution? Is it linear, chronological or does it move around? |
| Characters | How are characters drawn in the story? What is their role in the story? Do they change or remain the same? Are they fresh and original or stereotypical? Are they believable? |
| Style | The writer's use of language, imagery and tone. |
| Presentation | Does the presentation and formating enhance the writing? Has the writer developed their story and corrected mistakes? |
Writing Tips - Story Arcs
You will find a full list of writing tips to help you in this post.
Posts about story arcs:
What is a Story Arc?
The Magic Starts at the Beginning
The Fiction Challenge - Week 7
Examples of Story Arcs
You Never Can Tell by @dirge
Image by Sabine Tetzner on Pixabay
Here's @dirge's take on story arcs:
all good stories follow a traditional three act narrative. There are exceptions, sure, but the three acts are important. Why? They represent the progression of the central conceit, or truth, as it unravels through the process of characters driving a plot forward.
Here's an extract from @dirge's story:
I never agreed with Yuri that we existed in a space constructed by human hands. There is a madness to the dungeons, to such a degree as it could not have been conceived by flesh and blood. I do not aim to say that humanity is not mad. On the contrary, I believe that to be our basic state. But we could not conceive of these tunnels. They are too grand in scale, too hopelessly and endlessly chaotic to be made by human hands.
Dancing with the Devil by @seesladen
Here's an extract from @seesladen's story:
"It is time."
The voice of the robed man brought my thoughts back to the present. Once again he was standing with us, but this time we all stood at the mouth of the Passage. Kara and I about to truly answer the call. Robed man handed us two miniature capsules each. They were both identical.
"One for you and one for the passage. Offer the wrong one and there will be no passage. You will know when the time is right."
Nahualita by @saulos
An extract from @saulos' story:
Two days passed and the neighbor became suspicious of not seeing Mrs. Jacinta and her husband, since they never missed mass, the main door was open, so she came in greeting, but suddenly she was paralyzed. Her sister came behind her, when she saw the scene, she covered her eyes and dragged her away.
You'll find other examples of story arcs by The Ink Well subscribers linked in the comments on this post.
Any Questions?
If you have any questions, put them in a comment below.
Before We Go
Don't forget to read other people's entries and leave them a comment. The Ink Well will be searching for and tipping good comments!
We're looking forward to reading your stories!
Subscribers
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We would like to invite lovers of poetry and short stories to visit The Ink Well, a Hive community started by @raj808 and run by @shanibeer and @stormlight24 with support from moderators @carolkean and @jayna.
It is now possible to follow The Ink Well curation trail on Hive blockchain with Hive.Vote. Simply navigate to the curation trail section and search for theinkwell and our trail will pop up as an option.
If you wish to delegate to @theinkwell and support creative writing on Hive, you can do this from the wallet section in PeakD.
A big thank you for our delegations from:
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