Best Historical Fiction Writing Prompts

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The best historical fiction writing prompts

One of the joys of writing historical fiction is the opportunity to look to the past and ask: what if? What if an English woman suddenly found herself transported through time from mid 20th-century Scotland to mid 18th-century Scotland? What if you could meet the woman behind Johannes Vermeer’s famous oil painting? What if you could talk to one of Henry VIII’s most trusted advisors? All of these stories already exist, of course — Outlander, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Wolf Hall — but there are many more to tell. And hopefully these historical writing prompts will help you do just that!

The possibilities for historical fiction are practically endless — you’ve got an entire world, and the course of millenia to choose your setting from! What really matters is making sure that you are able to include the kind of textual details and references to real-world events that will immerse your readers entirely. That requires research, preparation, and a whole lot of planning. While other genres may give you a little (or a lot!) more leeway for invention, historical fiction readers expect a certain level of rigor from their novels, so bear this in mind in your story development and editing process.

Here are our top ten historical fiction writing prompts:

Here are some additional resources to help you write historical fiction:

Want more help learning how to write a short historical fiction? Check out How to Write a Short Story That Gets Published — a free, ten day course guiding you through the process of short story writing by Laura Mae Isaacman, a full-time editor who runs a book editing company in Brooklyn.

Ready to start writing? Check out Reedsy’s weekly short story contest, for the chance of winning $250! You can also check out our list of writing contests or our directory of literary magazines for more opportunities to submit your story.

Have a story you’re ready to start submitting? Check out our list of writing contests or our directory of literary magazines.

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