The Stranger at the Dust Bowl Farm
Write a story set during the Great Depression, focusing on a family running a dustbowl farm. As they fight to keep their land against all odds, a mysterious stranger arrives, bringing with them a secret that could change everything. Explore the family dynamics, the harsh realities of the era, and the ray of hope that the stranger might just bring.
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.
- Make the dialogue sound of its time without becoming hard to read.
- Tell it from someone the history books ignored.
- Write it as a letter that took weeks to arrive.
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 20th Century Historical Fiction prompts
- The Aircraft Factory SecretImagine you are a young woman working in a 1940s aircraft factory during WWII. Detail your day-to-day experiences and the dynamics among the primarily…
- The Speakeasy Jazz PlayerWrite a story about a jazz musician in 1920s New Orleans who stumbles upon a secret speakeasy that serves as a meeting ground for political activists.…
- The Photographer at the WallSet in Berlin during the 1960s, an amateur photographer accidentally captures a forbidden moment at the Berlin Wall. As they develop the photos, they…
- The Dancer's New York DefectionIn the 1980s, at the height of the Cold War, a Soviet ballet dancer decides to defect while on tour in New York City. Describe their first 48 hours in…
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