Plot Hooks Flashcards
Premises & Places
It’s the perfect party for the end of the world. Who’s throwing it? What is there to eat and drink? Are there costumes? How does it end (and begin?)
Premises & Places
Two former lovers meet after decades apart. At last, neither is married to or in a relationship with anyone else - but yet they can never be together. Why? Who are they, and have they changed?
Premises & Places
You find an old coin under the stairs and want to tell its life story. What has it seen? Who has bought things with it, and what have they bought?
Premises & Places
A small group of friends run a struggling website dedicated to finding the next big thing. Just when they are about to give up, they find it where they least expect it. What is it? What makes it different? Where do they find it and how do they use it?
Premises & Places
They went to their 20th high school reunion against their best judgment, only to find that they don’t recognize a single person there - and they didn’t recognize them. Even the high school mascot seemed different. Why are they having these memory lapses? Who are these people? What happened to the school?
Premises & Places
I work at a coffee shop. Every day, my fav customer comes in & orders the same thing: a soy cappuccino with an extra shot, and tips me well. But today, they didn’t show. Not only do I want their tip, but I’m worried. Should I go look for the customer? What do you think I’ll find?
Premises & Places
3 neighbors of very diff backgrounds r convinced that there’s something sinister going on in 1 house in the neighborhood. Y? What is going on? Y do they think something is off? What do they do about it? What r the dynamics like among these 3 neighbors?
Premises & Places
Someone’s following u through the city. U have no idea who they r or y, but u see them everywhere u go. Who r they? Y r they following u…or r they?
Beginnings
The arrival of a letter, email, or package.
Beginnings
An invitation-to join a club, attend a dinner party, or do something shocking.
Beginnings
A main character is in a frustrating situation.
Beginnings
A main character is in an awkward or embarrassing situation.
Beginnings
An escape - from a boring meeting, or prison.
Beginnings
Someone discovers a dead body.
Beginnings
A funeral is held for someone in the family or the community.
Beginnings
A birth.
Beginnings
The beginning or the middle of a disaster.
Beginnings
The aftermath of a disaster.
Beginnings
A character does something that will be discovered later.
Beginnings
A game or contest.
Beginnings
A kiss.
Beginnings
A performance, or the conclusion of one.
Beginnings
One character rescues another.
Beginnings
A main character declares that they r in big trouble.
Beginnings
A main character clearly is in big trouble.
Beginnings
A main character is in the hospital.
Beginnings
A main character sees a house or a city for the first time.
Beginnings
A plane, ship, or train arrives.
Beginnings
A plane, ship, or train departs.
Beginnings
Someone gets amazing news.
Beginnings
Someone gets devastating news.
Beginnings
Someone goes on a date.
Beginnings
The main character breaks up with someone or is dumped.
Beginnings
A scene at a party, a bar, or a nightclub.
Beginnings
A fight.
Beginnings
An all-out battle scene.
Beginnings
A character moves to a new place.
Beginnings
A dramatic moment in the middle or the end of the story.
Beginnings
Someone is arrested.
Beginnings
A courtroom trial.
Beginnings
A job interview.
Beginnings
A main character gets fired from a job.
Beginnings
A chase scene.
Beginnings
Characters wait for another character.
Beginnings
A visitor shows up at the door.
Beginnings
A busy street scene.
Beginnings
A character or characters get dressed, shave, put makeup on, or do their hair.
Beginnings
A character commits a crime.
Beginnings
A character or characters do a job.
Beginnings
One character teaches another how to do something.
Beginnings
Character or characters prepare to sit down to eat a meal.
Beginnings
A main character comes across a significant object.
Beginnings
Someone teaches or attends class.
Beginnings
Someone attends a church service.
Beginnings
A main character is in a triumphant situation.
Beginnings
Someone unwraps a gift.
Beginnings
A birthday party.
Fantasy
They aren’t happy about being left at home to run the castle when they go off to war…and she winds up leading the biggest battle of all.
Fantasy
Once every 1000 yrs., the phoenixes catch fire, burn to ash, and are reborn again from their own ashes. Contrary to legend, they aren’t birds, but humanoid creatures.
Fantasy
A fae, giant, and a gnome walk into a tavern.
Fantasy
A woman survives being struck by lightning, but it left a map burned onto her back.
Fantasy
The mermaids are empaths who find it hard to resist the urge to sing about the desires of any human nearby.
Fantasy
This hideous monster is pretty nice when u get to know them.
Fantasy
The birth of twins was considered bad luck in their country, so their father ordered their twin to be killed at birth. Someone disobeyed the order, and their still alive.
Fantasy
The magical spell turned the hoard of gold & jewels into a living sparkling dragon.
Fantasy
A man is sent to kidnap the monarch’s daughter, & things don’t go according to plan.
Fantasy
The barbarian child from the north arrives at the school for priests.
Fantasy
A royal birth is usually a happy occasion, but this time it leads to disaster.
Fantasy
Their the zookeeper at a zoo for magical & mythological beasts.
Fantasy
The playwright didn’t realize @ first that his plays predicted the future.
Fantasy
The monarch sent their child on the quest fully expected that the young person would get killed.
Fantasy
They command the fireflies.
Fantasy
This so-called school for wizards is a scam - no one can do magic. Until now.
Fantasy
Can they prevent civil war by betraying the person who’s both their friend and their monarch.
Fantasy
Their looking for their siblings who were turned into wolves.
Fantasy
When one takes out the jewel, it absorbs all of the light within about a mile radius.
Fantasy
The fallen angel tries to get a second chance.
Fantasy
Too souls live within the same body.
Fantasy
Nobody wants to be the person whose foot fits into that slipper.
Fantasy
They call them the Master of Keys. Well, they call themselves that, anyway.
Fantasy
The potion poisons anyone who has just told the truth.
Fantasy
The hellhounds have been locked out of hell.
Fantasy
Their only magic is being able to weaken other people’s spells.
Fantasy
This library is also a kind of arsenal.
Fantasy
A new virus with strange symptoms affects only one magical species.
Fantasy
Their voice magically compels everyone else to obey. Only one other person is unaffected.
Fantasy
Because of their unique parentage, they travel easily between the land of the living & the land of the dead.
Fantasy
Entrusting the quest to a couple of non-warriors turned out to b a terrible idea.
Fantasy
Anyone who touches the cursed river will die of thirst, no matter how much they drink.
Fantasy
Although humans don’t know it, a certain biz or institution is run by a cadre of supernatural beings.
Fantasy
They were a minor deity once, but now their the only one left.
Fantasy
All emotions have specific scents to them.
Fantasy
2 warriors fight. One of them desperately wishes to avoid hurting the other.
Fantasy
The demon is in trouble for being disloyal.
Fantasy
The horses burst into flames.
Fantasy
This magical item erases the wearer’s bad memories as soon as they r made.
Fantasy
They’ve got a good reason to bring the evil guy back to life.
Fantasy
Whoever they shoot with one of their arrows fall in love…with them.
Fantasy
Thunderstorms bring them power, which they lose gradually over long stretches of clear weather.
Fantasy
They believe a shocking act of bloodshed is needed to inspire an uprising.
Fantasy
The stature appeared in the middle of town & no one knows how it got there.
Fantasy
In this culture, one of the most profound bonds is between the steed & no one knows how it got there.
Fantasy
The weapon makes its owner invincible for a time, but will also b the death of its owner.
Fantasy
They r the spirits of the waterfall.
Fantasy
1 bone in their body once belonged to someone else.
Fantasy
When the woodsman cut down a tree, they freed a sprite imprisoned there.
Fantasy
In this land, exchanging wedding vows causes the couple to b able to hear one another’s thoughts for the rest of their lives.
Fantasy
Any person who kills them will inherit their power.
Fantasy
Giant peacocks stand guard at the gate.
Fantasy
These walls do talk if u touch them in the right places.
Fantasy
They want to poison the sacred well.
Fantasy
A wizard’s severed hands wields fearsome power, but only if it’s willingly sacrificed to the owner.
Fantasy
Everyone thinks he’s the Chosen One, but he’s just a good liar.
Fantasy
This incense can mask any smell.
Fantasy
The only black market in the realm is on the open ocean.
Fantasy
They pretended to b dead to escape the 7 people in the woods.
Fantasy
A chieftain must sacrificed 1 of his warriors without telling him why.
Fantasy
They r able to cross the desert by taking the form of sandstorms.
Fantasy
The monarch decides their child is unworthy to inherit the throne because of 1 particular reason.
Fantasy
No one ventures here without a mask.
Fantasy
A so-called fool triumphs in battle over their enemies.
Fantasy
This plan will both appease a monster & rid the city of its undesirable residents.
Fantasy
The waters of this river will make anybody drunk.
Fantasy
The local police force actually knows all about their secret supernatural activities.
Fantasy
They recruit new servants among souls yet to b born.
Fantasy
Reincarnation is real, & they remember all their past lives…& their future ones, too.
Fantasy
The good witch had been under the impression that it was a good spell.
Fantasy
They break the oath. It was a stupid oath anyway.
Fantasy
Getting that particular ancient symbol tattooed on that particular place on their body has unforeseen consequences.
Fantasy
The hero’s captors r surprisingly polite.
Fantasy
No human who has entered this cave has ever emerged alive again.
Fantasy
The angel is reluctant to deliver this message.
Fantasy
The problem with hobgoblin companions is that they love playing practical jokes.
Fantasy
A person offers to take their place @ the executioner’s block despite being a complete stranger.
Fantasy
Party in the catacombs!
Fantasy
In the middle of a duel, the most embarrassing thing happens.
Fantasy
He called for all witches to b punished by death, not realizing his wife was one.
Fantasy
A rod that turns into a snake when thrown on the ground.
Fantasy
They don’t know why that person can read the runes.
Fantasy
The curse was lifted from them, but they want it back.
Fantasy
They r from 2 diff, warring species, & they’re falling in love.
Fantasy
They reveal their true identity: they r royalty. Nobody believes them.
Fantasy
As the 2 sit by the fire, 1 makes a shocking confession.
Fantasy
The gargoyles r no longer stone.
Fantasy
The servant of the cruel master accidentally murders them.
Fantasy
Why does this modern corp. have a necromancer on the payroll?
Fantasy
Oh, no. They forgot to take off the ring.
Fantasy
The myth of the Easter Bunny is based on a true story.
Fantasy
They have been indoctrinated in this magical cult since childhood, but now they have doubts.
Fantasy
Their armor has one special opening.
Fantasy
The magical sword was melted down to make various objects that r now scattered across the world.
Fantasy
This path changes course as u walk on it.
Fantasy
Some astounding things r for sale @ the goblin market.
Fantasy
They first suspects they is the incarnation of an ancient god.
Fantasy
A musician can kill, heal, or resurrect people with their songs.
Fantasy
People r committing surprising acts in their sleep.
Fantasy
This might cure the current plague…if it can b found.
Fantasy
A smuggler, mercenary, or thief takes down or helps take down an oppressive ruler or regime.
Fantasy
An attempt to rescue a friend, fam member, or lover will put a larger mission or cause in jeopardy.
Fantasy
A peasant, who may b good or evil, believes that a divine fig in a vision told her to lead an army to victory.
Fantasy
The ones who live in the bottom of the ocean come to the surface.
Fantasy
Someone can bring a person back to life by taking their place in the underworld.
Fantasy
A counterfeiter’s coins or a forger’s fake works of art become more valuable than the real thing for this one reason.
Fantasy
A warrior defects to the other side in hopes of bringing a costly war to a quicker resolution.
Fantasy
Anything becomes true if enough people believe in it deeply enough.
Fantasy
A person has been turned into an object by magic.
Fantasy
To open the door, a person must use a key whittled out of one of their own bones.
Fantasy
A person doesn’t know why they have stopped aging.
Fantasy
After an archaeologist digs up an ancient treasure, the original owner shows up to take it back.
Fantasy
2 allies or 2 factions of the same army r tricked into attacking one another.
Fantasy
Miners discover stone spheres with strange markings.
Fantasy
Soldiers take souvenirs from their fallen enemies, which proves to b their downfall.
Fantasy
A person or group of people plot an escape or revolt against a forced marriage or a whole system of forced marriage.
Fantasy
Their magical powers don’t work when their drunk.
Fantasy
The flowers from this garden r the most precious commodities in the realm…for a very good reason.
Fantasy
A vending machine dispenses some very particular items instead of Coke.
Fantasy
For this race of beings, the sense of smell is more important than vison of hearing.
Fantasy
They made a noble sacrifice, & now, as a ghost, they resent it.
Fantasy
They live on an island in the middle of a lava lake. It has advs & disadvantages.
Fantasy
For this society, battle is a religious observance.
Fantasy
This is the most pitiful excuse for a castle in all the land.
Fantasy
This so-called magical sword has turned out to be a piece of junk.
Fantasy
A beautiful unmanned ship sails itself into the harbor.
Fantasy
So many birds or butterflies migrate across this land that for days, it darkens the skies.
Fantasy
The land has been cursed to permanent darkness, daytime, fog, wind, or lightning strikes.
Fantasy
Sibling rivalry is intense when it’s between 2 demigods.
Fantasy
At this auction, people r bidding a lot more than money.
Fantasy
They r the keeper of a hive of sentient bees.
Fantasy
A worker learns that the tower they r building will serve a much diff purpose than what they were all told.
Fantasy
Each person’s spirit is connected to a particular tree in the forest.
Fantasy
They’ve been hiding in the catacombs for yrs.
Fantasy
They find the fossil or skeleton of a creature they’d assumed to b mythical.
Fantasy
The changeling thought they were human, but now they’ve been returned to their own kind.
Fantasy
A spirit possesses a human or animal body & is then unable to get out of it.
Fantasy
The river has a soul of its own.
Fantasy
The monarch ran away & is living under an assumed name.
Fantasy
They fought long & hard to bring this new monarch to the throne, & it turns out they’re totally incompetent.
Fantasy
This muse inspires artists, writers, & musicians to great work, but when they leave, the creatives become so despondent they sometimes die.
Fantasy
They r assigned to b a bodyguard to someone on whom the fate of the world depends. The tricky part is, that person can never find out that’s what they r really doing.
Fantasy
No one knows who made the Garden of Obelisks or what the stone pillars signify.
Fantasy
There r good things & bad things about having an invisible dog for a pet.
Fantasy
The leaves of this tree make great parachutes.
Fantasy
The evil ruler is forcing them to forge an ancient prophecy that foretells their glorious reign.
Fantasy
They find a century-old catalog, attempts to place an order, & succeeds.
Fantasy
The hero is killed halfway through, & the sidekick takes over.
Sci Fi
All citizens r temporarily neutered @ birth. Would b parents must prove to the government that they’ll be suitable caretakers & providers before they r allowed to procreate.
Sci Fi
All marriages must b approved by a dept. of the gov, which analyzes massive amounts of data to predict the success of the union, its economic & social impact on society, the success of the union, its economic & social impact on society, the health & welfare of any children, & so on. It’s such a hassle that many people opt for gov-arranged marriages instead.
Sci Fi
Global warming prompts rapid mutations in the human species.
Sci Fi
The world leaders broker a deal with the alien invaders that many see as unfair.
Sci Fi
Humans have discovered a way to communicate directly with animals, & all the meat humans consume now is lab-created.
Sci Fi
Extreme elective surgery is the societal norm, & humans undergo creative mods that include extra limbs, cartoon-like features, & so on.
Sci Fi
Breeding modern humans with large amounts of Neanderthal DNA leads to interesting results.
Sci Fi
In this world, Napoleon’s army took over Australia, & her never lost at Waterloo. France took control of most of Europe, & WWI & WWII never happened.
Sci Fi
An alien from a planet where no one else experiences empathy comes to live on Earth, believing they will fit in better there.
Sci Fi
A drug that makes people non-confrontational has been added to the public water supply & to all beverages sold by major corporations.
Sci Fi
The huge, thin sheets of material covering some trees & yards turn out to b discarded placentas.
Sci Fi
A low-level employee in a bureaucratic gov office realizes the paperwork he files every day contains codes that determine other’s fate.
Sci Fi
A human & alien falls in love, causing an interplanetary crisis.
Sci Fi
An alien doesn’t know how to tell the humans they’ve become intimately involved with that they r an alien, even though they will find out soon enough.
Sci Fi
High-speed robotic horses become a trendy alt to cars & weave through heavy traffic with ease.
Sci Fi
Hunters track down fugitives who resisted vaccinations or implants.
Sci Fi
Personal info, including patterns of behavior & psychological triggers, have never been easier to obtain. Corps synthesize & sell algorithms about consumers that make it easier than ever before to get them to buy goods & services.
Sci Fi
Mars has been terraformed by dropping nukes on its poles, & the 1st human colonists have been assured that almost all of the radiation has escaped the atmosphere.
