The Gladiator's Secret Letters
Set in ancient Rome, create a romance between a gladiator and the daughter of a senator. Forbidden by law and society, they communicate through secret letters and rare, stolen moments. Explore how their love influences their views on freedom and destiny.
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 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…
- The Norse Warrior and the Celtic HealerDuring the height of the Viking era, a Norse warrior falls in love with a Celtic healer. Despite their cultural differences and the looming threat of…
- Poems in the BookshopIn post-revolutionary France, amid the chaos and reconstruction of society, a young widow running a humble bookshop finds a series of passionate poems…
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