_{Source: Pixabay}

Welcome to the Weekly Fiction Prompt

Hello community members! Thank you for joining our weekly writing prompt!

Getting Started

If you're new, be sure to check out our community rules before posting in The Ink Well. You can find them at the top of our home page.

Please also check out these additional helpful resources:

• You will find all kinds of great resources in our catalog of storytelling tips.
• You can learn more about our community and the expectations of community members in our treasure trove of tips and guidelines.
• We are always about quality first. Never about quantity. To achieve the kinds of awards you want, take the time to write quality stories and check them for errors. See the topic of the month, "Don't Miss This Step" in the March 2025 newsletter to learn about using tools (and using them properly) if you are not already doing this. We do notice when you don't take the time!

Stories from the Previous Week

Thank you to who posted a story for last week's prompt: "False alarm":

• @ima99
• @oyebolu
• @zerah
• @justola1
• @nachomolina2
• @caramel10
• @rare-gem
• @trexane
• @almadepoeta
• @tranquil3
• @nancybriti1
• @abojode
• @treasuree
• @ghost-art
• @stone4
• @lailawrites
• @marriot5464
• @lara-bee
• @goshen
• @rinconpoetico
• @bisolamih
• @jennyzee1
• @peterharry
• @corporateay
• @delightpen
• @zain-ab001
• @basil20
• @george-dee
• @coolbabe88
• @popurri
• @edith-4angelseu
• @farahikram
• @rammargarita
• @happy080
• @riya2020
• @terjix

Author Shout-outs

As always, we received some excellent stories for last week's prompt. Here are a few of the stories that received high marks from our curators.

@riya2020

The Uber Trap

Curator comment:

@riya2020 shares the mysterious tale of an Uber driver taking a client to a destination, but being asked to stop driving and drop him off in the middle of nowhere. He complies and the man takes off into the night, leaving a bag in the bag seat and telling him to keep it.

What should he do? Curiosity gets the best of him and he opens the bag to find wads of bills and some sticky red substance. Blood?? Read this spectacular story to learn how the mystery plays out!

@lailawrites

Oregano

Curator comment:

Guys, this story from lailawrites is really close to being a masterpiece. It takes you right into the life moments of an elderly man, unsure of how long his mental faculties can be trusted to support him.

In professional writing circles, we say "show, don't tell." This is because readers take delight in details and nuances, which can tell a story more effectively than when the author tells us exactly what is happening and what to think about it.

@lailawrites has mastered this technique in this story. A must-read.

@tranquil3

The Nursery

Curator comment:

@tranquil3 writes for the fiction prompt false alarm. A family moves into a home with their baby daughter. The nursery alarm keeps getting triggered, yet the baby is asleep. The wife sees the rocking chair move and hears an older child giggling. She does some research and discovers that a previous occupier of the home lost a 6 year old daughter who disappeared without a trace from the room. After a few attempts to get the visits to stop, the family is forced to leave the house. This story flows with good pacing, and it keeps you reading to the end!

@edith-4angelseu

*Ogbanje Alert

A beautiful and well-organized story by @edith-4angelseu, written with sensitivity from two different perspectives: that of a psychologist who evaluates a nostalgic girl from a scientific point of view, and that of a culture that considers her a reincarnated being destined to dissolve in water and wind.

Nicely done, writers!

Fiction Writing Prompt of the Week

This week's prompt is: "Late to the game"

"Late to the game" means someone is joining an activity or trend after most others have already started. They are either too late to join the trend or are confused and frustrated that it's so hard to catch up. Essentially, it means arriving or starting something after it became popular or established.

When asked to write the synopsis of three story ideas for the "late to the game" prompt, here's what ChatGPT came up with:

1. The Last Influencer
   Nina, a quiet book editor, finally gives in to the pressure to become an influencer—just as the social media bubble bursts. As everyone ditches their perfectly curated lives for a return to privacy and simplicity, Nina scrambles to learn hashtags, edit videos, and land brand deals. But her hilariously mistimed efforts lead her to stumble upon something more authentic—a real community that values her quirky, analog approach in a digital world.

2. Vinyl Revival… Again?
   Elliot spends his entire savings converting his garage into a retro vinyl record shop, believing he's riding the wave of the vinyl revival. On opening day, he discovers the trend has already shifted—to AI-generated music, neural playlists, and algorithmic soundscapes. Desperate to stay relevant, he tries to merge old and new but faces a choice: abandon the music he loves or double down and create a haven for those left behind by the relentless march of trends.

3. The Crochet Catastrophe
   When a viral crochet fashion trend sweeps the internet, Emily, a perfectionist and lifelong procrastinator, decides she will learn to crochet her own colorful wardrobe. Weeks later, by the time she's finally mastered it, the trend has been declared "so last month." But when she wears her handmade clothes anyway, a different kind of attention follows—one that sparks an unexpected and deeply personal movement in her community about making, not following.

What will you come up with? Tell us a story!

Good luck. Remember, as always, we are looking for the elements of story. These include:

• Great first lines
• Good settings
• Well-developed characters
• Integration of action, dialogue and narrative
• A conflict that intrigues the reader
• A "story arc" which results in the resolution of the conflict and brings the story to a satisfying conclusion
• And of course, we are looking for well-edited stories that are not littered with typos or grammatical errors — please use the free Grammarly tool for grammar and spelling checks (and not AI writing or rephrasing tools for revising)

You can find more on all of these topics in the catalog of storytelling tips.

If you don't feel inspired by this prompt or the featured image, feel free to peruse any of our past prompts or our collection of idea-generators:

• 50 Loglines
• 50 Story Ideas
• 50 Imagination Ticklers

Writing Prompt Guidelines:

1. See The Ink Well FAQ: Before you post in The Ink Well, we ask that you read our FAQ post to familiarize yourself with our important community rules and guidelines.
2. Story link: Please be sure to post your story in The Ink Well community, and post a link to your story in a comment on this post.
3. Hashtags: Please use these hashtags: #fiction #writing #inkwellprompt #theinkwell.
4. Community support: When you post in The Ink Well, please be sure to visit the work of at least two other community members and comment on their work.
5. Title: The title is up to you. You can come up with any title you wish. You do not need to name it after the prompt. Please do use the prompt word(s) within the story.
6. Images: Please only use images from license free and creative commons sites, like Pixabay, Unsplash and Pexels. Images you find on the Internet are copyright protected and cannot be used. Be sure to provide all image source links.
7. Length: We request that story word counts are a maximum of 1,500 words in length and ideally 750-1000 words. This is just a guideline. Longer stories are okay too, but they tend to get fewer readers. Additionally, The Ink Well admins appreciate keeping to that maximum story length for our time management. (Note: We generally consider stories less than 750 words "too short!")
8. Translations: If you post a story that has been translated from another language, please include both the English version and the translation.

Reminders: Be sure to also read our community rules. As always, please avoid violent, gory, bloody, brutal, sexist or racist themes and language, NSFW (not safe for work) stories like erotica, stories with a political or religious agenda, and stories featuring abuse of any kind. (We have a complete article about The Ink Well stance on violence and brutality for more information.) And do NOT use AI tools to write or manipulate your stories. You must provide your own unique content.

Past Prompts

Here are the past prompts if you would like to use them or refer back to them:
_{#1: Heart and Soul; #2: The moment when...; #3: Beauty with a twist; #4: The Way Home; #5: A Matter of Time; #6 50 Story Ideas; #7 The Library; #8 All the way to tomorrow; #9 Legend; #10 Three Words; #11 World Building; #12 Childhood Summers; #13 50 Imagination Ticklers; #14 Railroad; #15 Cats - 750 words; #16 Your Birthday; #17 Action, Dialog and Narrative; #18 Change; #19 Tea Time or Tee Time?; #20 Summer Camp; #21 Main Street; #22 Fireworks; #23 Picnic; #24 Run; #25 A word of advice; #26 Winding road; #27 Mirror; #28 Shipwreck; #29 School Notes; #30 Three Words: Scooter, River, Midnight; #31 Flash Fiction Contest; #32 A Fork in the Road; #33 Shadows; #34 Three Words: Island, Witch, Cake; #35 Full Moon; #36 Graveyard; #37 Jack-o-Lantern; #38 Family Ties; #39 Longing; #40 Feast; #41 Gift; #42 Season of Light; #43 Believe; #44 Elf; #45 Holiday; #46 New Year; #47 Unlikely Hero; #48 Inheritance; #49 Under the Light of the Moon; #50 Three Words: Shoes, Mood, Adventure; #51 They're Here; #52 Artist; #53 Headlights; #54 Tomorrow; #55 Lense; #56 Perfection; #57 Making and Breaking Rules; #58 A Reckoning; #59 Blossom; #60 Temptation; #61 Happiness; #62 Footprint; #63 Frequency; #64 Sailing; #65 Fortune; #66 Worry; #67 Adventure; #68 Shadow; #69 Motor; #70 Embarrass; #71 Proud; #72 Guide; #73 Impression; #74 Lost; #75 Wonder; #76 Tear; #77 Splash; #78 Brilliant; #79 Sinkhole; #80 Exhaust; #81 Roll; #82 Wishbone; #83 Chatterbox; #84 Foil; #85 I can't believe you said that; #86 Boo; #87 Midnight; #88 Hunger; #89 Light; #90 Spirit; #91 Fire; #92 Tend/Tender; #93 Cheer; #94 Appearance; #95 Ambition; #96 Trust; #97 Fly; #98 Comfort; #99 Fate; #100 To Create; #101 Vision; #102 Sympathy; #103 A Special Time; #104 Suspense; #105 Bride, stairs, illusion; #106 Reality TV; #107 Things the Go Bump in the Night; #108 First line: Two strange things happened that day; #109 What if that loose floorboard was actually a hidden passageway?; #110 Footsteps; #111 Mess; #112 Cards; #113 Elephant; #114 Crystal; #115 Phone call; #116 Date; #117 Chocolate; #118 Three words: wish, button, sky; #119 RSVP; #120 Objets d'art; #121 Soul; #122 Scuttlebutt; #123 Recall; #124 Doorway; #125 Beacon; #126 Seagull, Market, Box; #127 Window; #128 Terrified; #129 Dance; #130 Two endings; #131 Ghosted; #132 Treasure; #133 Taste; #134 Reunion; #135 I miss you; #136 Wonder; #137 Ruins; #138 Beach memories; #139 There was something in the wind; #140 Mask; #141 Halloween; #142 Photo album; #143 Dreams; #144 Crayon box; #145 Back of beyond; #146 Intuition; #147 Delight; #148 Anticipation; #149 Holiday memories; #150 Resolution; #151 Bicycle; #152 Flight; #153 Time Travel; #154 A trip to the fair; #155 Don't sell me a dog; #156 Gravity; #157 Love, wheelbarrow, dog; #158 Stealing; #159 Sportsmanship; #160 Toast; #161 Pickle; #162 You only live once; #163 Ring; #164 Hope; #165 Dreamcatcher; #166 In mother's house; #167 Keep Out; #168 Chin up; #169 Dish; #170 Talking in your sleep; #171 Wish upon a star; #172 Diary; #173 Plan B; #174 Clown; #175 The good old days; #176 The shoe is on the other foot; #177 Will tomorrow ever come?; #178 Am I a fool for dreaming?; 179 The moment that changed everything; #180 Superstition; #181 Gypsy; #182 Blind ambition; #183 Ah-ha moment; #184 Never say never; #185 Things are not always what they seem; #186 Domino effect; #187 The elephant in the room; #188 Higgledy-piggledy; #189 Scoundrel; #190 Storm the castle; #191 I think I'm being followed; #192 Hidden camera; #193 A long goodbye; #194 Confession; #195 Gobble; #196 Guilt; #197 Everything was fine until...; #198 Fragile; #199 Secret gift; #200 Party; #201`Old Habits Die Hard; #202 New Year's Resolution; #203 Unanswered questions; #204 Hey, the line is back here!; #205 I won't back down; #206 Sink or swim; #207 Time is of the essence; #208 Kryptonite; #209 When the cat's away, the mice will play; #210 Three words: wonder, eclipse, coffee; #211 Butt Dial; #212 Soup; #213 Spring Surprise; #214 Humble Pie; #215 Nostalgia; #216 Fear; Shopping; #218 Necessity is the mother of invention; #219 Life of the party; #220 The short straw; #221 Mouse; #222 The power of hindsight; #223 Ill at Ease; #224 What could possibly go wrong?; #225 I thought I was on mute; #226 Fortune cookie; #227 False alarm}

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A big thank you to all of our delegators:
@jayna, @felt.buzz, @carn, @itsostylish, @agmoore, @ricardo993, @marcybetancourt, @marriot5464, @marlyncabrera, @stormcharmer, @juniorgomez, @iamraincrystal, @preparedwombat, @gracielaacevedo, @timix648, @samsmith1971, @jackdeathblack, @josemalavem, @generikat, @mineopoly, @hazmat, @kingsleyy, @popurri, @nancybriti1, @marynn, @rinconpoetico7, @nathy33, @iyimoga, @captainman, @kachy2022, @morey-lezama, @evagavilan2, @mrenglish, @funshee, @amiegeoffrey, @balikis95, @rukkie, @raymondpeter, @tomiajax, @stuartcturnbull, @monster-hunter, @gertu, @mosin-nagant, @beauty197, @beckyroyal, @perfect20, @zaeema, @estilodereba, @rare-gem, @jjmusa2004, @ricurohemi28, @benwesterham, @artofkylin, and @shakavon.

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