Mental Can Openers & Writer's Hash ~ Roulf Burrell

Particle Plot Production

There is nothing miraculous about past book or movie plots, though it seems magical when we read or watch them. Sometimes plots are copied with cosmetic elements changed. Zorro is just James Bond with cosmetic changes. Instead of a tux, you use a mask and black cape and the Walther PPK is replaced by a Spanish rapier. Instead of an Aston Martin, use a black stallion named Tornado. The cold war required spy training, so substitute the war for Mexican Independence and fencing practice fencing.

But I want something original, you say?  Unfortunately, most of us can’t sit in a chair with our fists clenched, eyes squeezed shut, making such a plot pop into our head. How do the best authors give us something unique? I answer that with a particle accelerator. The best-known accelerator is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland. The LHC forces elemental particles to collide into one another. The result is undiscovered particles.

So let's do this with plots. All plots combine common elements in uncommon ways. The Harry Potter series took many common elements. Boarding school life, school sports events, train rides, detention after class, teachers we don't like; none of these were original. Rowling collided them with the element of magic. Instead of dodge ball and polo, she makes the balls and players fly, swapping horses for broomsticks. Voila—Quidditch. After writing 100 lines on paper for detention, the lines magically scratch themselves onto the back of your hand. Ouch!

Let’s try ramming a few elements of our own to see what we get. In three columns, make a list of occupations, motivations, and settings.  

With people’s occupations, think of the more unusual ones you’ve heard about.

Now make a list of common motivations for human behavior. These motivations will suggest some background in the main character lending itself towards that need.  Someone greedy, say, might have been poor growing up. Someone looking for romance might have been lonely or hurt. They can be general or more specific.

Finally, list settings, making some common and some unusual. These will change as needed. As examples, see my entries below.

Profession	Motivation	Setting
Zoo maintenance worker	Greed	Abandoned factory
Independent gold miner	Romance	Mount St. Helens
Basketball team coach	Pride	Antarctic weather station
Recently fired TV chef	Revenge	St. Paul's cathedral
Catholic priest	Growth	Dying Kansas town
Retired librarian	Fear of death	Mediterranean yacht

I can assure you, these have been written about. Each one by itself is commonplace and would not provide a story. But as we force each element into the one across from it, a story may suggest itself.

A zoo worker steals valuable animals, hiding them in an abandoned factory. Perhaps the animals turn on the keeper, as we see a visceral lesson that our possessions can destroy us.

A gold miner, hoping to find exposed gold after the Mount Saint Helen eruption, finds romance instead. A retired librarian (collision with another unusual character) likes to hike and learn new things. Will our lady miner find she must choose between hunting gold or a quiet life with a bookworm?

Or collide that gold miner and romance with a yacht in the Mediterranean. Is she now a diver for lost treasure?  Could our librarian’s access to limited archives and his ability to research find a missing clue? Could we set this during a looming World War I naval battle? As we collide between different rows in the columns, the possibilities broaden.

A TV chef, whose career is waning, hopes for a rebirth when he/she volunteers to cook for a term at an Antarctic weather station. Filmed during the long dark months, he/she reconnects with cooking artistry and people sharing a common meal when confined.  Does our chef turn down the next TV offer?

Thanks to a nationally advertised, interdenominational challenge, an atheist basketball coach has one month to create a winning team from the ordained members of St. Paul's Cathedral. (If St. Paul's has no ordained members, then switch it to Westminister Abby.) For the coach, pride is at stake. Or it could be revenge on the opposing coach. While team St. Paul’s might learn valuable lessons working as a team, what might the coach learn from them?

A Catholic priest diagnosed with aggressive cancer faces his fear of death. He leaves his mark by converting an abandoned factory into a youth center. What challenges would he face? How much of the factory could be left intact to provide obstacle courses, a work-out center, industrial training for welding or cutting, etc.? How could you parallel his death with the dying neighborhood he's trying to help? As the abandoned factory finds a new life, will he?

Have fun colliding your own elements. Remember, it takes a little practice, but you only need one success to launch you on to that next story, contest, or query letter.

~Roulf Burrell

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