The Lincoln Memorial Door
Imagine a reality where historical landmarks can transport you to the time period they were constructed. Write a story about a group of teenagers who accidentally trigger this feature of the Lincoln Memorial and find themselves in the midst of the Civil War. Explore their struggle to return to their own time and the moral dilemmas they face in a torn nation.
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.
- Choose one ordinary object and show how this world changed it.
- Start in the middle of the strangest moment, and explain nothing for a page.
- Write it as a document from the world: a letter, a field report, a warning sign.
Writing science fiction
Change one thing about the world. Follow it all the way.
Science fiction asks what happens to people when science, technology or contact with something new changes the rules. The spaceships are optional; the question is the point. The best of it says as much about today as it does about the future.
What readers expect
- An idea that drives the plot
- Technology or science with consequences
- Futures, other worlds or alternate presents
- Big questions about being human
A tip before you start
Show how your big change reshapes ordinary life: what people eat, fear and joke about. Scenery alone isn't world-building.
More Alternate Reality prompts
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- The Historian Who Changed TimeWrite a story set in a reality where historical and future events can be visited like destinations, using a time-travel-like technology. Describe the…
- The City That Mirrors EmotionWrite a story set in a futuristic city where every building and vehicle can change its appearance based on the occupants' emotions and desires.…
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