Friends Across the Civil War
Imagine a small, divided border town during the Civil War where families and friendships are torn apart by differing loyalties. Craft a story focused on two childhood friends who find themselves on opposing sides and their struggle to maintain their bond.
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.
- Write it as a letter that took weeks to arrive.
- End with a choice that history would never record.
- Let your character believe something about their world that turned out to be wrong.
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 Civil War prompts
- Friends Across the FrontImagine a story set in a small town divided by the Civil War. Focus on two childhood friends who find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.…
- Freedom on the PlantationImagine a southern plantation during the Civil War where an unlikely friendship forms between a Confederate soldier's daughter and an escaped slave…
- The Siblings Before BattleImagine a scenario where two siblings find themselves on opposing sides of the Civil War. Construct their last conversation before heading to battle…
- The Battlefield NurseDescribe a day in the life of a nurse working in a makeshift hospital near a major Civil War battlefield. Detail her daily challenges, the soldiers…
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