What's a McGuffin?

[Wild Gazebo]

A MacGuffin is simply an incident that spurs a charcter into action. Commonly there are two examples of this incident...either a displacement or a retrieval. Either the character needs to fix something or find something--can be physical or mental.



Edit: ok, so I'm pretty slow on the draw...big deal. I should probably go fix that.

 

[Zander]

Can I order an Egg McGuffin?

Yes, as long as the egg drives the plot.

By the way, I suspect Hamburglar did it.

 

[Ottergame]

Ah, odd, I always thought that McGuffin was another term for red herring. You learn something new every day I suppose.

 

[Drew]

Thanks for the many replies, and Eric, thank you for the links.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

My favorite McGuffin is the 'letters of transit' in Casablanca.