The Chicago Speakeasy
Craft a narrative around a speakeasy owner in Chicago during Prohibition in the 1920s. Introduce figures from history, the complexities of running an illegal business, and a personal crisis that threatens to expose everything.
Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- Keep the famous event offstage and show its ripples.
- Make the dialogue sound of its time without becoming hard to read.
- Tell it from someone the history books ignored.
Writing historical fiction
Step into another time and feel what it was like.
Historical fiction is set in the past, usually at least 50 years before it was written. Real events and people often appear, but the story belongs to its characters. Readers come for the immersion: the smells, the rules, the dangers of a world that's gone.
What readers expect
- A vivid, well-researched setting
- Real events as backdrop or engine
- Characters shaped by their era
- Details that feel lived, not looked up
A tip before you start
Research deeply, show lightly. One telling detail in a scene beats a paragraph of facts.
More American Historical Fiction prompts
- The Louisiana Plantation HeiressSet in a small Louisiana town in the 1800s, write from the perspective of a young woman who inherits her father's plantation but finds herself…
- Jazz Age New OrleansWrite a story about a family living in New Orleans during the jazz age. Explore their daily lives, the cultural upheaval due to the emerging jazz…
- An Italian Family in New YorkIn the early 1900s, amidst the bustling growth of New York City, an immigrant family arrives from Italy, clutching their few belongings and dreams of…
- The Broadway Stagehand's DiaryIn 1950s New York, you discover a hidden diary from a distant relative who worked as a stagehand at a famous Broadway theatre. Write about the secrets…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
Chapterly gives a draft somewhere to grow: chapters, daily word goals, and readers when you're ready.
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