Focused Workshop: Big Ideas

Fellow Sci-Fi/Fantasy Writers, we're having another workshop at Justin's house. As usual, first-timers are welcome; don't feel weird about going to a stranger's house -- just come in and go with the flow.

We're gonna mix it up a little this time. We usually focus on plot, characters, and worldbuilding. This time we'll focus on conceptual elements of your story instead.

How? We'll each give a casual pitch for our story in terms of the ideas that drive it. We'll discuss our stories in terms of a premise, a theme, a motif, and/or a macguffin.

You don't have to bring written homework this time, but you should think about the subject beforehand and maybe bring some notes to reference. This is more of a casual discussion than anything, but come semi-prepared. If there are more than 6 people, we'll break into groups.

That's it. Dig deep and try to describe WHY you felt compelled to write this story in the first place. What's that idea here you just can't let go of?

To help get the juices flowing, below I've written a refresher on these "big idea" elements with examples from the top of my head of how they are used in SFF. But don't feel obligated to describe your big ideas in this fashion.

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Premise
A premise is a short description of what the story is all about. This is especially important in SFF because the premise contains weird elements such as magic, future tech, aliens, etc. Consider the opening monologue of Star Trek.

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before!

This explains the premise so well it was re-used in the sequel show, The Next Generation.

Themes
A theme is some kind of insight or idea about life explored by the work. In SFF, the theme, premise, and macguffin are often tied closely together.

• In the X-files, a theme is stated outright: "The truth is out there" points to the idea that investigating the paranormal will lead to some kind of bizarre truth. A related theme in the show is the tension between wanting to believe in weird things (Mulder) and being skeptical by default (Scully).
• One of the themes in Lord of the Rings is addiction to power. Power is tempting, but power corrupts. People like Frodo and Sam who mostly manage to resist it are heroes for it even though they're otherwise weak.
• In Aesop's fables, the theme is outright stated at the end of each fable as the moral of the story. With the boy who cried wolf, the theme is "Liars are not believed even when they speak the truth."

Motifs
Motifs are recurring imagery that symbolize or point to a theme.

• In Dune, water is a motif. Since water is precious in a desert, it can be used through in-world customs to emphasize what is precious or sacred.
• In Star Wars, lightsabers are arguably a motif. They aren't macguffins (the plot doesn't revolve around who has them) but they reinforce the Jedi's role as an order of knights, and are used to emphasize the good vs evil conflict whenever it comes to a head.
• In the Wheel of Time, a spinning wheel (weaving wheel) is a recurring motif, symbolizing the cycle of repeating patterns across time and the threads of fate being spun.

MacGuffins
A macguffin is a concrete thing for the plot to revolve around and move it forward. It tends to fall into the main character's lap near the beginning. Like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, or the ring in Lord of the Rings.

Not every story has or needs a macguffin, but it's a good way to focus the plot. It's especially easy to include them in SFF stories, where some piece of jewelry can reasonably spark wars.