The Nurse and the POW
In the waning days of World War II, a Japanese-American nurse, wrongly imprisoned in an internment camp, finds herself caring for a critically wounded German POW. Explore their evolving relationship as they share stories and confront their prejudices amidst the backdrop of war.
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 World War 2 Historical Fiction prompts
- The Pacific War ReporterImagine you are a journalist embedded within the Pacific Theater during World War II. Craft a story around a particularly harrowing battle you are…
- A Nurse in Fallen SingaporeWrite about a British nurse stationed in Singapore during its fall to the Japanese in 1942. Write about her last days before the city falls and the…
- The Bletchley BreakthroughWrite a story from the perspective of a codebreaker in Bletchley Park, UK, discovering a crucial piece of information that could change the course of…
- A Pilot Over the ChannelExplore the life of a young American pilot involved in the D-Day invasion. Describe the intense moments leading up to their flight, their thoughts as…
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