Historical figures can be fun to write about and writing historical fiction can help you explore different themes. In this post, you’ll find story ideas about different historical figures and other writing prompts for historical fiction.
The main motivation for this post was finding that both “story ideas” and “historical figures” were trending on Pinterest and I wanted to see if I could come up with interesting writing prompts with that combination. You’re welcome, I hope.
Related: How to research your historical setting – What if you wrote historical fiction (podcast episode) – Historical fiction planner (on Etsy)
How accurately do you have to write about historical figures?
One of the articles I had to read for my writing classes said that historical fiction is about how the era can affect an individual, and biofiction is about how an individual can affect their era. Whether you agree with that doesn’t matter, but it still shows that your historical story can have different purposes.
When you think of the purpose of your story, you can also think of how historically accurate you want to be. Do you really need to know what Henry VIII thought about one April morning or can you make it up? You need to decide your level of accuracy and you also need to set your readers’ expectations right so they know what they’re getting into.
There is, after all, a difference between a fictionalised story and a biography. Sometimes you don’t want to write about the historical era as much as you want to use a real person as a storytelling device. You can speculate, draw conclusions and use your imagination. Any decision is valid as long as you make a decision and stick to it.
You could also go fully speculative and write about some alternate universe. I really like Sue Townsend’s The Queen and I where the British royal family has to move to council flats and you may have heard of Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series which, somehow, combines dragons and Napoleon. Maybe you’ve got a similar story in you.
What counts as a historical figure?
Honestly? I don’t care. Just pick any person who has lived in the past and who appears in some kind of historical records.
A historical figure you write about doesn’t necessarily have to be “famous”. There are plenty of people who have done important things that most people haven’t even heard about. When you think of famous scientists of the past, you probably think of Albert Einstein and Marie Curie first rather than Dmitri Mendeleev or Lise Meitner, but they all still count as historical figures.
There’s not a lot that has remained from the lives of regular folks who lived in the past, but occasionally you can find them in old newspapers and courtroom records. A woman who got arrested in 1770 for running a brothel from her home might not count as a historical figure by most standards, but if you can find evidence of her in any records or newspaper articles, she’s a real person you can write about.
How to find story ideas about historical figures
I know, I know, isn’t that why you wanted to read this post? But instead of just feeding you ideas, I want to give you a few ways to find even more inspiration.
Think of anything they teach you in school. Who came up with it first? Whose idea was it? Who was the pioneer in that field? The answers might surprise you. I’ve been reading The Disappearing Spoon and it’s really interesting what kind of drama there’s been between scientists when they’ve tried to find new elements and understand how they work, not to mention all the spats over Nobel prizes.
Even the most famous historical figures didn’t live in a vacuum – they had friends and family like anyone else. Do you know who Frances Parthenope Verney was? She was Florence Nightingale’s sister and she always suffered from ill health until she ultimately died from her ailments on Florence’s 70th birthday. I wrote a short story about their relationship once but you could write an entire novel.
You could also think of people who worked towards something together – who might have an interesting story in them? For example, we’ve probably heard nearly everything we need to hear about Winston Churchill, but who else was steering Britain with him during World War II? Besides Alfred Hitchcock, who made The Birds happen?
And hey, of course you could just choose a period you’re interested in and find historical figures to write about in that time. There will always be politicians, royalty, authors, business owners and criminals in any era to write about. Which one will you choose?
Use Wikipedia to find story ideas
Wikipedia categories are great for finding historical people to talk about. For example, when you scroll to the bottom of Marie Curie’s entry, you can find such categories as French women chemists, Deaths by acute radiation syndrome, Women’s firsts, and many others. There, you can find countless people to write about.
Then, when you find a person that might interest you, check out their article for subtitles like “Early life” or “Death” to find more interesting events and people they may have been involved with.
Yes, you can obviously find information about people outside Wikipedia, but I just wanted to give you a quick and easy tip you can use now instead of overthinking what to write about. You could also go to your local library and pick a biography at random to use as a starting point for your story.
Story ideas about historical figures
Okay, we’re finally getting to the meat of the post. Here are some ideas you can use as they are or you could modify them to fit your needs.
Story ideas about royals
First, I’m directing you to Wikipedia again. Who doesn’t love Wikipedia? It’s still unsullied by techbros – a rarity in this terrible timeline. Anyway, here’s a list of current monarchies and a list of former monarchies. You could always pick a new monarch or monarchy from there if you’d like to change some of these ideas, and for some prompts I just tell you to pick a royal of your choice.
- You already know Elizabeth II is the longest reigning queen in the world. Write about the last day when she still thought she would never end up on the throne.
- Write about an alternative timeline where Wallis Simpson becomes the queen
- Learn about Empress Dowager Cixi (if you don’t know her yet) and write a scene where she’s pondering her place in history
- Write about the final hours of the last emperor of Japan from the point of view of someone close to the emperor
- Harald Fairhair visits the current king of Norway in a dream
- Write about Haile Selassie as a child
- Pick an ancient Egyptian ruler – have them write a letter to another kingdom’s ruler
- Catherine Jagiellon was a Polish princess who ended up in Finland – write about her journey to her new home country
Story ideas about the war
I said “the war” although it would probably be more accurate to say “a war”, because these story ideas are from different countries and eras. But still, when you hear the words “the war”, there’s usually a specific conflict you think about. Are there historical figures you could write about?
- Simo Häyhä is, apparently, the deadliest sniper in history. Write about him on his deathbed, looking back on all the enemies he killed.
- Winston Churchill is having a bad day during The Blitz and he doesn’t want to get out of bed
- Alexander the Great is preparing his favourite horse for battle
- Florence Nightingale is writing a letter to her sister from the Crimean War, hoping it’s the last war she’ll ever have to see
- Write a scene where Genghis Khan is wondering how he’ll be remembered in the future
- Write about the Battle of Waterloo like you’re closely following Napoleon but you can’t access his personal thoughts or feelings
Writing prompts about historical authors
As a writer, I happen to know more about authors than about military people or politicians, so I could have probably added even more ideas here than you would have needed. Where’s the line between fact and fiction with these historical figures?
- Did William Shakespeare ever suffer from writer’s block? We don’t know, but you can write a scene where he’s trying to come up with an idea for a new play – and failing.
- Mark Twain came and went with the Halley comet. Write a story that explains this connection.
- What happened when Agatha Christie went missing? We might not know, but you can certainly make it up.
- Write a scene with the Brontë sisters talking about their favourite childhood stories
- Write about Jane Austen’s ghost finding out she’s still one of the most famous writers in the world in the 21st century
- There isn’t just one writer for One Thousand And One Nights, but imagine you’re the first person to want to put all these stories together anyway
- Write about Flora Nwapa, a pioneer for modern African literature and the first African woman to be published in English
- Imagine Dante’s Divine Comedy was inspired by a very bad dream
More story ideas about historical figures
I’ll be honest – I wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested in this post when I started writing it, so I’m not making it too long. YET. But if I see this post getting views, I’ll 100% be adding even more story ideas here. If you liked what you saw here and would like more writing prompts, you could also leave a comment with any requests you might have 🙂
Want a story idea of your own? Why not get my free story idea workbook so you won’t have to settle for something that anyone else could have written about before.
Protagonist Crafts is a blog about writing fiction, written by a published author and creative writing teacher. You can find more writing tips and inspiration in the blog and you can get the best author tools at Writer Lifestyle on Etsy.
