\muh-GUF-in\ also MacGuffin
n: A device that helps propel the plot in a story but is of little importance in itself.
[Coined by film director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980).]
"A McGuffin could be a person, an object, or an event that characters
of a story are interested in but that, intrinsically, is of little concern.
For example, in Hitchcock's movie North by Northwest, thugs are on the look out for a character named George Kaplan. Roger Thornhill, an ad executive, gets mistaken for Kaplan and so he is chased instead. Meanwhile Thornhill
himself tries to find Kaplan who doesn't even exist." --Wordsmith.org
I love words of the day. It's fun to put them in sentences then try working them into normal conversations. In this particular case, I'm not as interested in working the word McGuffin into conversation as trying to work the plot device into a future story.
I guess the McGuffin concept is not unlike the red herring concept, in which you want to force the reader to look off to the left while you send the story's true villain off to the right. With a McGuffin you can build a whole story around an object (jewels, secret documents, a package) that will ultimately have no significance other than to bring characters together or send them off on a wild goose chase.
I love it! It's one plot device I haven't tried yet. It won't fit into my work-in-progress, but I'm definitely going to keep it in mind for the future. I have an idea for an adventure novel next. That just screams for a McGuffin.
Leave it to Alfred Hitchcock to come up with all the great ideas.
Posted by robynamos at August 27, 2004 12:31 PM