Friends on the Railroad
During the construction of the transcontinental railroad, two workers from vastly different backgrounds form an unlikely friendship. Explore how their lives and futures are shaped by this monumental project and the era of westward expansion.
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 American Historical Fiction prompts
- The Abolitionist's Secret MissionIn the tumultuous years preceding the American Civil War, a young abolitionist in Massachusetts discovers an underground network that smuggles escaped…
- The Gold Rush MerchantChronicle the journey of a Chinese immigrant who arrives in San Francisco during the 1850s Gold Rush. Explore his initial struggles, his…
- The Tracker and the ScientistsNarrate the tale of a Native American tracker in the late 1800s who is recruited to guide a group of European scientists through the uncharted…
- The Costume Designer and TalkiesImagine the Golden Age of Hollywood through the eyes of a costume designer who starts her career in silent films and witnesses the rise of talkies.…
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