If you teach writing to high-school or university English learners, you probably know the struggle: students often fall back on predictable paragraphs about hobbies, daily routines, or weekend plans. Useful, yes, but not always inspiring. Try this twist: an alternate history writing prompt.

The “What If” Alternate History Journal is a powerful ESL creative writing activity that pushes students to think imaginatively, write more fluently, and use conditionals naturally. This lesson invites learners to explore an alternate version of their country’s history and write a diary entry from that world. It blends storytelling, historical imagination, and grammar practice in a way that feels fresh and meaningful.

Below is a fully structured, SEO-optimized guide to help you run this ESL writing lesson from warm-up to extension activities.

Why Use Alternate History as an ESL Writing Activity?

This writing task helps students strengthen conditional grammar, develop narrative voice, boost creativity and writing fluency, engage emotionally with the task, and explore culture and identity through imagination. Because students write as a fictional narrator, even shy or hesitant writers feel more comfortable taking risks. That makes this one of the best ESL creative writing activities for intermediate and advanced levels.

Lesson Objective

Students will write a first-person diary entry from an alternate-history timeline. This ESL writing lesson targets second and third conditionals, diary-style narrative voice, descriptive language, creative thinking, and coherence. Suitable for B1–C1 learners in high school or university.

1. Warm-Up: Introduce the Concept of “What If” Scenarios

Start with simple “what if” questions that require no history knowledge: What if smartphones had never been invented? What if you had never learned English? What if your school banned online classes? Students discuss in pairs using conditional phrases. This warm-up boosts fluency and prepares them for deeper alternate-history thinking while supporting conditional writing practice.

2. What Is Alternate History? (Student-Friendly Definition)

Explain alternate history in accessible language: It is storytelling based on a real event that turned out differently. One change creates a new world. Use examples to spark ideas: What if the Berlin Wall never fell? What if your country had never been colonized? What if a major election had a different winner? This sets up the core alternate history writing prompt.

3. Choosing the Event: Helping Students Find a Strong Idea

Guide students to choose a key event from their country or region—political changes, wars, discoveries, cultural shifts, or natural disasters. Ask them to write: “What if ________ had/had not happened?” This keeps the lesson focused.

4. Planning the New World (Graphic Organizer Recommended)

Before writing, students imagine the setting of their alternate world. Have them outline: A. What changed? Government, technology, daily life, laws. B. How does an ordinary person live in this world? Safer? More restricted? Hopeful? C. Who is the narrator? A student, worker, parent, scientist, or soldier. This planning stage supports coherence and increases the quality of the final ESL creative writing activity.

5. Writing the Diary Entry (Main Task)

Students now write their alternate-history ESL diary entry. Encourage them to use conditional grammar naturally (If the revolution hadn’t succeeded, we wouldn’t…), write in a reflective diary voice, add sensory detail, and show emotion rather than simply list facts. This is the central fluency-building segment of the lesson and the heart of the ESL creative writing activity.

6. Extension Activities for Deeper Learning

Extend the lesson with advanced options: A. A second diary entry introducing a new event in the alternate world. B. Transform the diary into a short story written in third person. C. A classroom gallery walk where students read one another’s alternate histories. These activities strengthen ESL classroom engagement, writing fluency, and creative writing development.

Final Thoughts: Why This ESL Creative Writing Activity Works

The “What If” Alternate History Journal blends structure with imagination. It gives students a safe fictional voice, encourages ambitious grammar, and invites them to think critically about culture and history. It is a refreshing change from standard writing prompts and remains one of the most effective ESL creative writing activities for engaging modern learners who benefit from creativity, flexibility, and deeper thinking.