Stuck Stuck Stuck

[lhazan]

I was on a roll with my WIM story. The prompt gave me an idea and I ran with it, completely pantsing this one. But now I've run into a wall.

My MC is a 60-year old woman named Elly. She is on a bus and being taken to a new life in the western US. The virus has been lingering for 5 years, killing millions, including her husband. Her son, Elliott, 30, is with her. All she wants is to feel safe again. The anxiety from wave after wave of disease has worn her down. So many loved ones gone. The government has asked for volunteers to move west to clear out the decimated cities in the east. Elly jumps at the chance.

Thats as far as I've gotten. Her want is safety but now I need to get her off this bus and have her save herself.

Suggestions?

[Erin Fulmer]

Give her a really good reason to get off the bus (it breaks down, someone comes down with the virus, she finds out that the safe place she's been promised isn't really safe...) Why does she need to get off the bus to save herself?

[SKaeth]

That sounds like a good start! You have a strong motivation. Can you tie it to the prompt somehow? What could go wrong on the way that makes Elly have to save herself and Elliott? Does the prompt picture with the remote setting speak to you at all?

[K. J. Harrowick]

I think you've got all the pieces there... path to a new life, son she wants to protect, and a gun in her purse.

Now rip the bandaid off and see what bleeds. 

[Helena]

Be Elly.