A few years ago, one of the Muse on Monday story prompts was to write a story that was nothing but dialogue. Today’s is similar but it is combative dialogue: an argument, a fight of words, an attempted persuasion, perhaps. With this kind of dialogue, the conflict is obvious. It is like a fencing match…
Tag: stories
Muse on Monday – August 26, 2024
What is the most alone you have ever been? I remember one day when I hiked up a snowy mountain in Korea and did not see another person the whole day. This is not loneliness, just being alone. Ironically, the loneliest I have every felt is when I was in a crowd of people where…
Muse on Monday – August 5, 2024
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…
Muse on Monday – July 22, 2024
I remember when I was young, I got lost in the woods. It was probably only for 10-15 minutes, but it was one of the most terrifying experiences I had ever had. Being lost in the wilderness is a great plot for a story (Lost in the Barrens, by Farley Mowat was my favorite book…
Muse on Monday – July 15, 2024
It is interesting, although not surprising, that one of the most common professions of characters in stories is a writer. This is because writers often write about what they know, which is themselves and what they do. Beyond that, there are also many stories about writing itself, either about magical books or story itself (see…
Insert Story Here
Insert Story Here My first job was at a secondhand shop where nothing ever sold. “Where’s this from?” I asked my boss, pointing at a brass flowerpot. “No idea.” I had some ideas, even if they were all lies. That night, I wrote a history of that flowerpot. It started with murder and became more…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 