The Viking Left Behind
Craft a tale of a Norse Viking who, during their raids in early medieval Scotland, is left behind due to an injury. Explore their struggle for survival and the unexpected alliance formed with a local clan, challenging both cultures' preconceived notions.
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.
- Tell it from someone the history books ignored.
- Write it as a letter that took weeks to arrive.
- End with a choice that history would never record.
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 European Historical Fiction prompts
- The Village's Young LeaderCreate a narrative centered around a family living through the Viking invasions of England. Focus on a sibling who must rise to leadership to protect…
- The Senator's Freed SlaveImagining Rome at the height of its power, write from the perspective of a slave who gains their freedom through an unexpected act by their owner, a…
- The Inquisitor's SonDuring the turmoil of the Spanish Inquisition, a converso family (Jews forced to convert to Christianity) secretly maintains their religious…
- The Guard at the WallSet during the fall of the Berlin Wall, craft a narrative from the perspective of an East German guard who forms an unexpected friendship with a…
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