Historical tales is in my genre and I was delighted to find Writing Magazine’s next competition was for just that. Now I need a plot line that meets the editors requirements of:-

Something forewarned about. A menace that hangs over the protagonist. The bomb is set to explode in ten minutes but the disarmer doesn’t know and is being deliberate. The tsunami is coming to the beach. He’s trying to make a big sale but doesn’t know he’ll be made redundant if he fails.

A ticking clock. A deadline to meet or a delivery to make before the closing time for the contract, or the organ being transported dies.

High stakes. I doubt if the type of high stake that Bertie Wooster experiences would qualify. I assume it is life or death type of thing. Maybe an important job interview, or getting Brexit done or stopped.

A moral dilemma. Should the sniper fire when he knows the armistice is due in ten minutes? Should he keep the money and let his pal take the blame? Should she marry for money or love?

Complications. Brexit has to get through parliament. The new job would mean moving away from his elderly parents. He’s Moslem and her parents are staunch Christians. Is he marrying her just to get a passport?

Hero/Villain dynamic. Normally the people would know each other. Two boxers in the ring or two political candidates. It doesn’t need to be two people it can be someone trying to stop a runaway train.

Now where do I find a historical tale that will fit all that? David and Goliath maybe. Harold at the battle of Stamford Bridge with William the Conqueror ready to invade. A pacifist Campbell at Glencoe. Someone on the Titanic or the Hindenburg. One of the Scots in the English army at Bannockburn.A submarine captain looking at a hospital ship he’s been told carries tanks. That’s the list started and beginning to move but I need to give it more thought.