Teenagers on the Underground Railroad
Set during the Civil War, a group of teenage friends from a small southern town secretly join the underground railroad efforts. Write about their daring missions, close calls with authorities, their internal conflicts, and how their relationships evolve as they navigate the perils of helping runaway slaves.
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.
- Use the way your hero texts to show who they are.
- Write in close first person, as if it's happening right now.
- Put a first in the story: a first job, kiss, loss or lie.
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
- 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…
- A Future Device in RomeA teenager growing up in ancient Rome finds an unusual object buried near the Forum. It appears to be a device far ahead of its time. Write about the…
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