The Boston Loyalist Family
Develop a story about a loyalist family in Boston whose sentiments and loyalties are tested as the revolution intensifies. Focus on family dynamics, social pressures, and the internal conflict between personal beliefs and community expectations.
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.
- End with a choice that history would never record.
- 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.
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 Revolution prompts
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- A Warrior’s Choice in the RevolutionWrite about a Native American tribe's involvement in the American Revolution. Focus on a young tribal warrior who must decide whether to align with…
- Freedom in the RevolutionTell a story about an enslaved African American who gets entangled in the revolutionary conflict, seeing it as a path to freedom. Highlight their…
- Women Behind the War EffortDescribe the secret meeting of several key women from different colonies who band together to support the war effort in their own unique way. Explore…
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