The Roman Slave's Choice
Set in ancient Rome, tell the tale of a slave who discovers an intricate plot against the Emperor. Explore their moral dilemma as they decide whether to reveal the plot and gain their freedom or stay silent and protect the only family they've ever known.
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.
- End with a choice that history would never record.
- Let your character believe something about their world that turned out to be wrong.
- Give the hero a rule of the era they have to break.
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 Historical Fiction prompts
- The Painter's Secret ApprenticeTransport your reader to 18th-century Paris. The main character is a young woman who pretends to be a man in order to apprentice under a prominent but…
- The Scribe's Missing GrainSet your story in ancient Egypt, focusing on a scribe who discovers discrepancies in the records of grain distributions. Explore how this discovery…
- The Pyramid ConspiracyCraft a story about a scribe in Ancient Egypt who uncovers a conspiracy involving the construction of a new pyramid. As the scribe, navigate the…
- The Samurai and the ThiefWrite about a pair of twin brothers in Feudal Japan who are separated at birth. One grows up as a noble samurai, the other as a cunning thief. Their…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
Chapterly gives a draft somewhere to grow: chapters, daily word goals, and readers when you're ready.
Plans from $9.99 a month. Cancel any time. Your words are always yours.