The Samurai and the Farmer’s Daughter
In late 18th-century Japan, during the Edo period, write about a forbidden love affair between a renowned samurai and a peasant's daughter. Explore the consequences they face from their vastly different social statuses and the choices they must make between duty and love.
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.
- Put them in close quarters they can't escape.
- Tell it from the point of view of the one who falls first.
- Write the first meeting so it goes badly, in a way they'll laugh about later.
Writing romance books
Not whether they end up together, but how.
Romance puts a love story at the center and promises a happy ending: happily ever after, or at least happy for now. Readers know where it's going. The pleasure is in the obstacles, the banter and the moment the two leads finally stop fighting it.
What readers expect
- Two leads the reader roots for
- Obstacles that keep them apart
- Emotional growth, not just attraction
- A happy ending, guaranteed
A tip before you start
The happy ending isn't optional. Without it you've written a love story, and romance readers will tell you so.
More Historical Romance prompts
- The Pianist of ViennaIn the elegant ballrooms of 19th-century Vienna, a talented young pianist catches the eye of an enigmatic aristocrat. As their passion for music draws…
- The Gladiator's Secret LettersSet in ancient Rome, create a romance between a gladiator and the daughter of a senator. Forbidden by law and society, they communicate through secret…
- The Unposted Love LetterIn Edwardian England, a young aristocratic lady discovers an old, unposted love letter written by her grandmother to a mysterious man who is not her…
- Letters from the Collapsed BarnDuring the tumultuous times of the American Civil War, a Southern belle and a Union soldier find themselves trapped in a collapsed barn due to an…
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