Mysteries & clues
Project Hail Mary · Andy WeirHe can solve the maths. He cannot give his name.
Introduce a capable character with missing memories by showing what they can do before asking what they know about themselves.
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Relationships
The Happy Prince · Oscar WildeA statue can see people who need help, but must ask a migrating bird to reach them
Build an emotional fantasy partnership in which doing useful work together changes what each companion needs from the other.
Relationships
The Interlopers · Saki (H. H. Munro)Two armed enemies are trapped under the same fallen tree
Make an enemy's offer of peace credible through a specific concession, and show what accepting it would change.
Mysteries & clues
The Invisible Man · G. K. ChestertonFour watchers report no visitor, but fresh footprints cross the entrance
Build a mystery around sincere witness statements whose ordinary wording leaves out something crucial.
Dilemmas & costs
James · Percival EverettHe knows the answer. Saying it directly could get him punished.
Write a correction when the person who needs help also has the power to punish the person giving it.
Organizations
Jane Eyre · Charlotte BrontëA public accusation needs more than private reassurance
A falsely accused character needs other people to change how they treat her, not just one ally to say they believe her.
Character & identity
Jane Eyre · Charlotte BrontëShe cannot leave the household. She can tell people what happens there.
Give a dependent character a credible way to resist someone who controls her home and daily life.
Organizations
Jane Eyre · Charlotte BrontëHe orders the girls' curls cut. His own family arrives wearing curls.
Show who a strict rule is really for through an exception everyone in the room can see.
Dilemmas & costs
Leave It to Jeeves (in My Man Jeeves) · P. G. WodehouseWhat if the insult describes a different audience?
A failed commission can suggest a new use for the work, provided the character has the skills and contacts to pursue it.
Dilemmas & costs
The Lady, or the Tiger? · Frank R. StocktonShe knows which door will save him. It will also give him to her rival.
Make a trusted helper's decision difficult by giving them both the needed information and a personal reason to fear using it.
Organizations
The Lady, or the Tiger? · Frank R. StocktonTwo identical doors cannot tell the court who is guilty
Build a public ceremony that looks impartial while failing to answer the question it claims to settle.
Relationships
The Last Leaf · O. HenryAn ordinary object can hide somebody's difficult work
Make a later discovery change how readers understand an object they have already spent time looking at.
Character & identity
The Last Leaf · O. HenryShe counts the leaves instead of planning tomorrow
Give an inward change an observable shape: something the character watches should affect a small action they have been refusing.
Character & identity
Luck · Mark TwainThe famous general's old tutor gives a very different account of his success
Write comedy about a celebrated success that one witness insists was accidental, while giving the apparent mistakes specific causes and consequences.
Character & identity
The Lumber Room · Saki (H. H. Munro)The boy makes his aunt guard the wrong door
Let a closely watched character gain room to act by encouraging the watcher to expect the wrong kind of disobedience.
Relationships
The Magic Shop · H. G. WellsA child enjoys the magic shop while his father becomes afraid
Write an uncanny fantasy scene in which wonder and fear arise from different needs within the same relationship.
Dilemmas & costs
The Metamorphosis · Franz Kafka; translated by David WyllieHe wants to join the music. Who will see him approach?
Let a character's attempt to join the family create a practical problem the family cannot ignore.
Character & identity
The Metamorphosis · Franz Kafka; translated by David WyllieHe wakes in an impossible body and worries about missing the train
Make a fantastic opening feel immediate by letting an ordinary obligation continue on schedule.
Relationships
The Metamorphosis · Franz Kafka; translated by David WyllieAn empty room is easier to crawl in. It no longer feels like his room.
Make an act of care solve a physical problem while threatening something the recipient wants to keep.
Mysteries & clues
The Mezzotint · M. R. JamesAn ordinary print looks different each time someone examines it
Make an impossible object convincing in a horror mystery by showing how careful observers check one another's accounts.
Relationships
Misery · Anton ChekhovHe can find passengers. He cannot find someone who will stay and listen.
Dramatize grief and loneliness through repeated attempts at conversation, with a different obstacle each time and a small, credible change at the end.
Organizations
The Nose · Nikolai GogolHis missing nose is walking around in a senior official's uniform
Write absurd comedy in which familiar concerns about rank and respectability make an impossible event harder to deal with.
Mysteries & clues
The Open Window · SakiThe visitor hears an explanation before he sees the evidence
Let an apparently helpful story influence how a newcomer reads the next ordinary event.
Character & identity
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge · Ambrose BierceHe wants to prove he belongs. Someone offers him a mission.
Make a dangerous invitation persuasive by connecting it to the role the character already wishes to play.