 Noticing Newbies: December 10, 2025 Issue [#13492] |
This week: MacGuffins Edited by: Jeff  
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"You never know what you can do until you try,
and very few try unless they have to."
— C.S. Lewis
About The Editor: Greetings! My name is Jeff and I'm one of the regular editors of the official Action/Adventure Newsletter! I've been a member of Writing.com since 2003, and have edited more than 400 newsletters across the site in that time. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me directly or submit feedback in the comment box at the bottom of this newsletter. |
MacGuffins
The MacGuffin is one of the most popular plot devices, found especially in mysteries and thrillers. The term "MacGuffin" was popularized by director Alfred Hitchcock and is essentially defined as some form of motivator that drives the actions of a character or characters, but for which its actual nature isn't important to the story.
Some examples of popular MacGuffins:
 The briefcase in Pulp Fiction.
"Rosebud" in Citizen Kane.
The Maltese Falcon in The Maltese Falcon.
The Ark of the Covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The Holy Grail in both Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The One Ring in Lord of the Rings.
The Death Star Plans / R2-D2 in Star Wars.
Voldemort's Horcruxes in Harry Potter.
In each of these examples, "what" these items were specifically is secondary to the function they serve in the narrative. It doesn't matter what's in the Pulp Fiction briefcase; all that matters is that we understand it's important to several characters who want it. Similarly, we don't need to know what's in the Ark of the Covenant, or what the Holy Grail specifically is, as long as we understand that these are objects of desire for at least one of the characters in those movies.
And consider stories in which we do understand "what" the items are. The One Ring in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Voldemort's Horcruxes in the Harry Potter series are very specific items, but it ultimately wouldn't make any difference if The One Ring was actually The One Fruitcake, or if Rowena Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem and Marvolo Gaunt's Ring were actually Rowena's Radio Flyer and Marvolo's Monopoly Game. What the objects physically are is an irrelevant detail when compared to what those objects represent (i.e., a character motivator, the antagonist's object of power which must be destroyed, etc.).
MacGuffins can be as specific as a Horcrux or as generic as a briefcase with glowing contents that are never fully revealed to the audience. What's most important about a MacGuffin is not what it is, but what it compels the characters in your story to do. If you're writing a story where the characters need to be motivated toward some end, consider giving them a MacGuffin to entice them. This plot device can be a great way to motivate your characters and keep your audience interested, without necessarily having to integrate the object fully into the backstory or the mythos of your story. Sometimes, an object can just be a simple motivator for your characters.
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"New & Noteworthy Things" | "Blogocentric Formulations" |
This month's official Writing.com writing contest is:
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