The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
Back to feedPost
Uncle Rick
Short Story | Fiction | Creative Writing
From Classroom Assignment to Portfolio Piece
“Uncle Rick” is an original short story I wrote for my Advanced Fiction Writing course. Although I had already been developing my own fiction independently, this assignment gave me an opportunity to take my existing creative practice into the classroom and apply the techniques I was learning to a complete short story.
The story follows Rick on his 42nd birthday as he reunites with his family while privately navigating illness, addiction, shame, regret, aging, and his fear that he has disappointed the people closest to him.
At its core, the story explores family, identity, vulnerability, and unconditional love.
What I Explored
Character development and characterization
Internal conflict
Dialogue and family dynamics
Sensory detail
Flashback and memory
Emotional pacing
Scene development
Literary fiction
The Creative Process
I wanted Rick's internal conflict to unfold naturally through his interactions with his family rather than simply explaining what he was feeling.
The birthday celebration allowed me to create a contrast between Rick's internal experience and the love surrounding him. His anxiety, memories, and insecurities continue building throughout the story until he finally asks his mother the question he has been carrying with him:
“Are you disappointed in me as a son?”
That conversation became the emotional center of the piece.
Why I'm Including It in My Portfolio
I'm intentionally turning my academic writing into professional portfolio material.
Rather than allowing class assignments to exist only for a grade, I'm using them as opportunities to develop a body of work that demonstrates my voice, range, and growth as a writer.
“Uncle Rick” represents my continued development in fiction and my commitment to building a career around writing.
Role: Writer
Genre: Literary Fiction
Project Type: Short Story
Origin: Advanced Fiction Writing Course
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
Trending
retrofuturism
Share your favorite designs from the past exploring the distant future. Or your own take on the aesthetic 🚀
halftone
Dots. Texture. Grain. Let's see your designs using the halftone technique.
Midjourney
Creatives are showing off what they're making with Midjourney.
colorgrade
Video editors sound off: How do you enhance the mood of your video in color grading?
Related posts
How far can a product idea go?
Started with PULP’s Lip Glaze and built the visual world around it — colour, texture, beauty and attitude.
The goal was to make the product feel playful, glossy and impossible to ignore.
Spec Concept: Amul — 80th Independence Day
The Brief (self-initiated): Most Independence Day ads default to flags and patriotism clichés. I wanted something that felt native to how Indians actually celebrate — through food, at home, without needing to say the word "freedom" out loud.
The Insight: Amul has quietly been part of nearly every Indian household's daily ritual for decades — the kind of trust brands spend fortunes trying to manufacture. This year's 80th Independence Day gave that trust a number to celebrate.
The Wordplay: "Tussi azaadi se paratha khao, assi butter lagate hain." A bilingual pun — "assi" reads as both "we" (Punjabi) and phonetically as "80" — landing exactly on the milestone year.
The Visual: Three parathas — carrot, plain, and spinach — arranged as the tricolor, with "80" written across all three in butter, tying the number, the flag, and the product into a single image.
The Line: "80 years of independence. One butter, holding it all together."
Spec concept — not affiliated with Amul. Built to demonstrate cultural insight, bilingual wordplay, and full campaign execution from concept to visual.
