African writing prompt

Letters from the African Regiment

Imagine you are a young soldier from one of the African regiments that fought alongside the British in WWII. Write a series of letters home, detailing your experiences abroad, the camaraderie with soldiers from other colonies, and your thoughts about what this war means for your own hopes for independence.

Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000

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Make it yours

Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.

  1. Let your character believe something about their world that turned out to be wrong.
  2. Give the hero a rule of the era they have to break.
  3. 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 about historical fiction in our book genres guide

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More African Historical Fiction prompts

See all 21 African Historical Fiction prompts

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