Hey Steemians!

Welcome back to the fourth week of Season 24 of the Steemit Challenge, running from May 12 to May 18, 2025!

Are you ready to let your imagination soar high?

As you already know, the Team Wordsmiths is into the fiction niche, giving you the perfect platform to stretch your creativity and craft a compelling story based on this week’s prompt:

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Story Prompt

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When Julie showed up for the reading of her estranged father’s will, she expected almost nothing. Maybe a few old books or that dusty violin he used to keep in the corner. But instead, the lawyer slid a folder across the table. Inside, one sentence had been circled in red:

"The estate is to be divided equally among my three children."

Julie froze. Three children? She had only ever known of one brother. This wasn't a typo. Her father, a man who avoided personal questions and rarely spoke about the past, had legally acknowledged a third heir.

The lawyer handed her a name: Jeremy Cates. Along with it came only a P.O. box and a condition. Unless all three heirs agreed, none of them would be allowed to access the property.

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^{AI-Generated Image}

Now Julie is left with questions she never imagined asking. Who is Jeremy? Why had he been kept secret for so long? Does he even know he is part of this inheritance?

Now it’s your turn to pick up where the prompt leaves off. Let your imagination run wild and create a gripping, creative story. We’re excited to see where your mind takes this tale!

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A Few Tips for Crafting a Great Story

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• Make sure your plot is engaging and easy to follow.

• Show your characters making decisions and taking action.

• Build suspense, introduce twists, and keep your readers hooked.

• Most importantly, make your story meaningful and logical, whether it has a happy or sad ending.

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Contest Guidelines

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• The contest starts on Monday, May 12, 2025, at 00:00 UTC and ends on Sunday, May 18, 2025, at 23:59 UTC. Submissions outside this timeframe won’t be accepted. Check UTC Time Now

• The title of your post should be "Wordsmiths Fiction Week 4: Season 24 – The Family Secret"

• Post ONLY on your blog, not in any community.

• Your story should be between 500 and 900 words (not including the provided prompt).

• All submissions must be original and unique (No plagiarism or AI content).

• You can include up to 2 copyright-free images (besides your thumbnail) sourced from platforms like Pixabay, Pexels, Freepik etc.

• You can use AI-generated images, but mention that they are AI-generated. If possible, specify the AI model used, such as DALL-E, Flux, or Leonardo AI, and ensure your images are free from copyright.

• Write your story in any language supported by Google Translate or DeepL Translate, but stick to the theme of our provided story idea.

• Do not use the official contest thumbnail or images.

• Use the following tags:#fiction-s24wk4 #yourcountry #club (if any) #steemexclusive.

• If you set @null as 25% beneficiary, use the #burnsteem25 tag.

• Tag at least 3 friends to join the contest for example, @solperez, @fjjrg and @kouba01.

• Share your post on any social media platform like X. (Optional)

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Our Moderation Template

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Hello @, thank you so much for taking part in Week of the Steemit Challenge - Season 24! We truly appreciate the time and creativity you put into your entry. Your assessment, including feedback and scores based on our evaluation criteria, is provided below.

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

Feedback

(The moderator will record their observations in this section, highlighting the strengths of the post as well as areas that need improvement, and provide feedback to the author accordingly.)

Moderated by: @

Rewards

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• The top 6 stories will receive upvotes from SC01 based on our team’s evaluation.

• Outstanding entries may also get random upvotes from SC02.

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Important Reminders

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• Post ONLY on your blog, not in any community.

• Paste the link to your story in the comments section of this post.

• Don’t forget to vote and resteem this announcement post.

• Use #fiction-s24wk4 as your first tag so we can find your post.

• In case of a tie, the winner will be decided based on story quality and team decision.

We look forward to your creativity and wish you best of luck.

Cc: @steemitblog, @dove11, @senehasa.