Well-rounded Plots

You do not know where to start your story? How to give your character good motivation to get off his arse and finally do something?

McGuffin

A McGuffin might be exactly what you need!

What is a McGuffin?

Harry Potter is full of them! Essentially, a McGuffin is an object or person that drives the plot without having any real importance for the readers. It is of high importance to the characters though and often starts a chain of events. For example by them searching for the McGuffin.

Examples:

The Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s stone is a McGuffin. The Horcruxes? McGuffins, all of them! They are objects your hero needs to reach his final goal: destroying Voldemort, destroying Sauron, keeping Thanos from destroying half the universe—the list can go on as they are used quite often nowadays.

McGuffins can be:

• treasures
• ultimate weapons
• persons (eg. a hostage or a chosen one that your mc is looking for)
• secrets
• places

If you find yourself struggling to set your plot into motion, a McGuffin might help you. But beware! They are rarely of much interest to the readers; they are only a tool and once the plot thickens, you should focus primarily on building characters than on extending the lore on your McGuffin.

Hero’s Journey

Your plot can also take off by following the hero’s journey. It is a plot device that includes several stages:

• It starts with the hero being called to an adventure (maybe by a McGuffin?).
• They go through challenges and resist temptations.
• They experience metaphorical or actual death and rebirth that comes with a transformation.
• In the end, your hero finally reaches the goal of their journey and returns back home.

Examples:
You can find the hero’s journey everywhere in fiction from Harry Potter to Lord of the Rings. Popular tropes are the unwilling hero and the mentor figure who has to die to make way for the hero and give him motivation. An often used motivation is the lost lenore trope—the dead love interest. If you plan your story with the help of this plot structure, write your own version and do not a copy from the thousands of stories that have used this tool for plot development before.

Final Advice:Focus on building believable and well-rounded characters in a thoroughly developed setting. If they feel real, they are going to behave like actual people and will take you on an adventure of their own volition. A good character can write their own story simply by reacting to their complex world and making decisions based on their character traits and relationships.