Plot Ninjas

These ideas are for guidance when your plot seems to have dried up on you. They force you to ask yourself questions, and the hope is that while explaining the random thing that just happened, you will unblock yourself and a torrent of words will ensue. They are intentionally vague enough to fit any genre and setting; it’s up to you to supply the details.

1. A character hears a sudden commotion.


2. A character receives a piece of correspondence, either with very good or very bad news.


3. Something valuable disappears.


4. A character is given an unwanted gift, which he or she must accept.


5. A personification of some aspect of a character's psyche talks to them (think Jiminy Cricket).


6. A character finds out a potentially life-ruining secret about someone he or she doesn't like.


7. A character is recognized in public by someone they don't recognize at all.


8. Someone says, "...and then me leg fell off."


9. There is a stampede of animals.


10. Suddenly, ninjas (or something plausible but equally improbable in your setting) spring in from every side.