The Siblings' Civil War Letters
Imagine a tale set during the American Civil War, focusing on two teenage siblings separated by their allegiances. Explore how they maintain their bond through secret letters, sharing fears, hopes, and the impact of war on their personal lives.
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.
- Make the adults well-meaning but wrong.
- Use the way your hero texts to show who they are.
- Write in close first person, as if it's happening right now.
Writing young adult books
Ages 12 to 18: firsts, identity and everything at stake.
Young adult fiction is written for teens, with protagonists usually 14 to 18. Every genre lives here, from fantasy to thrillers to romance. What makes it YA is the voice: immediate, intense and inside a teenager's head.
What readers expect
- A teen protagonist
- An immediate, close voice
- Identity and independence
- Big feelings, taken seriously
A tip before you start
Write from inside a teen's head, not from an adult looking back. That immediacy is what separates YA from an adult book with a young hero.
More YA Historical Fiction prompts
- Teenagers on the Underground RailroadSet during the Civil War, a group of teenage friends from a small southern town secretly join the underground railroad efforts. Write about their…
- The Enemy Soldier in the BarnImagine a teenager during the American Civil War who finds a wounded soldier from the opposing side hiding in their barn. Explore the moral dilemmas…
- The Orphan's InheritanceIn Victorian England, a 16-year-old orphan receives a surprising inheritance from an unknown distant relative: a sizable estate in a remote…
- The Teenagers' Secret RadioIn a quiet French village during World War II, a group of teenagers discovers an abandoned radio in an old attic. They start broadcasting a secret…
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