A Convict in Van Diemen's Land
Imagine the life of a female convict sent to Van Diemen’s Land in the 1830s. Through a series of diary entries, depict her life from the harrowing sea voyage to her eventual settlement and adaptation to life in a penal colony. Explore her transformation as she forms unexpected alliances and perhaps discovers new freedoms far from the life she knew.
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 real detail of the period, like a price, a law or a song, and build a scene around it.
- Keep the famous event offstage and show its ripples.
- Make the dialogue sound of its time without becoming hard to read.
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 Australian and Pacific Historical Fiction prompts
- The Polynesian WayfinderImagine the experience of a young Polynesian navigator in the pre-colonial Pacific Islands. Create a tale centered around their journey across vast…
- The Navigator's Ancient Sea RoutesIt's the early 20th century, and a Polynesian navigator sets out on a traditional voyaging canoe to rediscover ancient sea routes. Her journey becomes…
- The Stranger in TasmaniaWrite from the perspective of a woman living in a remote Tasmanian town in the late 19th century. Her life takes a dramatic turn when a mysterious…
- Letters from the Telegraph LineDuring the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line in the late 1800s, a young Irish engineer falls in love with the arid yet beautiful Australian…
See all 20 Australian and Pacific Historical Fiction prompts
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
Chapterly gives a draft somewhere to grow: chapters, daily word goals, and readers when you're ready.
Plans from $9.99 a month. Cancel any time. Your words are always yours.