Letters Across the War
Craft a tale around two siblings who enlist together, only to be separated by their assignments. Communicate their story through letters they write to each other, revealing their fears, experiences, and changes. Culminate the story with their reunion after the war.
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.
- Let your character believe something about their world that turned out to be wrong.
- Give the hero a rule of the era they have to break.
- Choose one real detail of the period, like a price, a law or a song, and build a scene around it.
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 World War 1 Historical Fiction prompts
- The Captured SoldierDescribe how she forms an unexpected bond with a soldier from the opposing side, who has been captured and brought in for treatment.
- The Child and the DeserterCreate a narrative about a young child who befriends a deserter hiding in the nearby woods, and how their secret friendship changes the course of both…
- A French Village at WarSet your story in a quiet village in France during World War I. Show how the villagers' lives change as the front line draws closer and the young men…
- The Photographer’s Last Year of WarSet in the final year of World War 1, write about a photographer who is commissioned to document the war. Through the camera lens, capture the harsh…
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