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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/39448
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

So far in my WIP, which is a “journey” story, the main characters have been struggling against the environment and the fact that they’re displaced and trying to return home. I’ve arrived at a point in the plot where they’re settling in to their situation and I’ve stalled out. I couldn’t figure out why. Now I realize that they don’t have something clear to struggle against. I know what I want them to accomplish over the course of the novel, but I don’t know what, besides a core time travel mechanism in the story, they need to “fight”. I feel like I need some way to create conflict for them ([maybe not](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/23537/hang-on-wheres-the-main-conflict)), but I don’t quite know how. One MC is going to go through a deep bout of depression, and the other will pull him out, but that’s not long-term sustainable. Do I need to have a personified villain? [This conversation suggests that I don’t](https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/28294/does-a-novel-require-a-conflict). What non-personified (e.g. environment, time pressure, etc.) are examples of things where I could find inspiration for my story?

Original score: 4