^{Designed in Canva}

Fiction writing is a powerful form of creative expression. At its core, fiction is about making people feel something. It is about telling a story so engaging that readers lose themselves in it and forget they are even reading. You are not just putting words on a page; you are building an entire experience.

One of the best things about fiction writing is the freedom it gives you. You can make up anything, from deeply personal reflections to wild, fantastical worlds. Your story can be based on real-life events or come entirely from your imagination. The characters can be fictional, inspired by real people, or a mix of both.

Writing fiction helps boost creativity and imagination. Over time, it can even turn into a rewarding hobby. Once you experience the joy of crafting your own world, it becomes something you look forward to doing.

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Challenge Concept

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Our challenge is called “Weave the Tale”, and we want to see how well our fellow Steemians can build a compelling, well-structured story while showing an understanding of the key elements of fiction writing.

Here is how it works. Each week, we will provide a story prompt that is short, around 200 words. Participants will then create their own story based on that prompt. They can either continue from where the prompt ends or creatively insert it into the middle of their story. Both approaches are fine, as long as the final story stays connected to the original idea and ends with a meaningful conclusion.

We will post clear rules and guidelines in our weekly contest announcement posts.

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Weekly Schedule and Prompt Example

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Since the prompts may change depending on how participants respond, we are not sharing all six prompts in one post. We want to consider factors like how many entries we receive and what kind of story ideas people enjoy the most. Based on that, we will shape future prompts week by week.

But to give you an idea of what to expect, here is the first week’s prompt:

Week 1 Prompt

The envelope was tucked under her windshield wiper, sealed with navy wax and addressed in neat, swirling cursive to M. Dalton. Harper almost tossed it aside. She wasn’t M. Dalton, after all. But something about the handwriting made her hesitate.

There was no return address. No stamp. Just that graceful script and the faint scent of lavender lingering on the paper.

Inside, the letter started like this:
“I should have told you everything that night. But I was a coward, and you deserved better.”

Harper’s heart picked up. She kept reading, pulled in by the raw honesty in every line. Regret, an apology, pieces of a secret that never quite got said. Something about that night at the lake...

By the time she reached the end (signed simply “J”), she felt as if she had stumbled into someone else’s heartbreak. This wasn’t meant for her. And yet, here it was, in her hands.

She folded the letter carefully, catching a faint glimpse of herself in the car window. Who was M. Dalton? Who was J? And why leave something this personal for a stranger to find?

^{AI-Generated Image}

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How We'll Select the Top 6 Entries

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Each week, we will choose the top 6 stories based on a points system. If there is a tie, we will decide the winner based on overall story quality and team discussion.

Criteria	Marks
Story Setting & World-Building	0/3
Formatting & Presentation	0/2
Originality & Uniqueness	0/3
Theme & Message	/2
Total	/10

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What Each Criteria Means

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Story Setting and World-Building:
This looks at how well the story and characters are developed.

Formatting and Presentation:
This focuses on how well the content is styled using markdown, grammar, readability, and images if any.

Originality and Uniqueness:
We will evaluate AI use, check for plagiarism, and determine how closely the story connects with or creatively expands on the original prompt.

Theme and Message:
We want to see how well you interpreted the theme by identifying hints in the prompt and what message your story delivers.

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How We'll Handle AI Content

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• We’ll be using these two tools to help detect AI-generated text, but we won’t rely only on them: ZeroGPT and Quillbot AI Detector (supports English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch).

• We’ll also manually read through the submissions to spot robotic writing patterns or unnaturally perfect language. AI-generated stories often have a predictable tone, over-the-top descriptions, or use unnecessarily complex words.

• Since many users might turn to ChatGPT or similar tools for help, we expect to see similar-sounding entries and they will be disqualified.

• Before making a final judgment, we’ll also look at the author’s past posts and comments to see if the writing style matches or seems suspiciously different.

• Some people even add deliberate spelling or grammar errors to hide AI use. We’ll disqualify those entries if caught.

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Our Team

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We are Team Wordsmiths — a duo of passionate writers, both with experience in fiction writing and active involvement in various Steemit communities. Together, we bring creativity, experience, and a shared love for storytelling.

@waqarahmadshah
Discord ID: waqarahmadshah#9221

I am from Pakistan. I have an MS degree in Chemistry and previously worked as a teacher at a private college for one year. However, I left the job due to personal circumstances.

Currently, I work as a freelancer, primarily handling writing-related projects and assignments and I also trade cryptocurrency as a side hustle.

I joined Steemit in December 2021 after discovering it through a YouTube video. Though not always active, my most productive period was 2023-2024, during which I wrote over 400 posts, focusing on quality over quantity. My articles cover fiction, health, crypto, and general topics.

On Steemit, I served as a moderator in the Steem4Bloggers community for nearly eight months before resigning six months ago. I was part of Team Wordsmiths in Steemit Challenge Season 24.

Account Details

@dove11
Discord ID: dove11#7685

I am from India. I joined Steemit on May 14, 2022.

Details of positions of responsibility:

• Steem Representative
• Steam Curator served for six different teams starting October 2023. Currently working with Team-3
• Cofounder Dream Steem Community
• I have organized two learning seasons Season-20 and Season-24
• Worked as moderator for Traveling Steem and Hindwhale communities

My permanent residence is in the National Capital Region of India, but right now I am in Canberra, Australia for one year.

I am a qualified mechanical engineer and have a PG Diploma in Management and special alloy welding technology.

I can write and speak English and Hindi but can speak six more other Indian languages, including Punjabi and Urdu.

Account Details

In conclusion, we hope that @steemitblog will grant us this assignment once again, allowing us to engage with our fellow Steemians who are passionate about writing.

Thank you

Team Wordsmiths