The bedrock of a story is conflict. In a lot of stories this is something external like someone trying to kill the main character, or the characters trying to find some object or other, etc. However, conflict can also be something that no one can see.

A few weeks ago, I left work to catch the bus home. The app said it was coming in 10 minutes but then I got to the stop two blocks away, I found I had just missed it. It only comes once an hour, so I went back to work and did some more work then went out again. Again, the app was wrong and I just missed it again. At this point I was pretty frustrated and didn’t want to wait another hour so I had to decide what to do. I decided to take a bus that went kind of close to me and then walk. It turns out I arrived home about 10 minutes later than I would have if I had just waited for the next bus.

Of course there was some external conflict about my missing the bus repeatedly, but most of it was internal conflict that no one observing me could have detected. That can make a good story if you find the right situation and tell it in the right way.

Story Prompt: August 5, 2024

Write a story about internal conflict.

If you write a story for this, you can send me a link to your story if you’ve posted it somewhere or send it to me at info@greenwalledtreehouse.com. You can also submit your story here for a chance to have it published on the site next week. I will post my story for this prompt next week as well.

Good luck and happy writing! Maybe get lost in a good book this week. 🙂