The Apothecary's Plague Cure
Write a story set during the Black Death in medieval Europe. Your protagonist is a young apothecary’s apprentice who believes they have discovered a cure, but they must travel across the continent, through towns filled with fear and superstition, to prove it.
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.
- Give the hero a rule of the era they have to break.
- 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.
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 European Historical Fiction prompts
- Plot at the Eiffel TowerWrite a story set during the building of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (1887-1889). Your main character is a young apprentice who discovers a plot which…
- The Aristocrat in Revolutionary ParisSet during the tumultuous times of the French Revolution, your main character is a young aristocrat who decides to join the peasants' fight for…
- The Orphan's ManuscriptIn the heart of medieval Paris, a streetwise orphan discovers a hidden manuscript that threatens the foundations of the monarchy. Write a story that…
- The Master Mason's CathedralCraft a story about the construction of a famous cathedral in medieval Europe. Through the eyes of an elderly master stonemason reflecting on his…
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