Infinite Plot Generator

A small town girl ... becomes a pimp ... to save the local synagogue.

A flamboyantly gay hairdresser ... coaches a little league team ... with a chunky but spirited cheerleader.

The authors of The Official Movie Plot Generator -- a spiral bound book, with pages divided into thirds, allowing the reader to mix and match segments like those found above -- claim their book can be used to generate 27,000 unique and hilarious movie plots.

But with your trusty Tarot deck in hand, you can generate an infinite number of plots ... without flipping all those pages! And better yet, the plots you generate with your Tarot deck will be superior to any found in Movie Plot Generator, because:

- your plots, based on your own unique perceptions instead of a bank of supplied phrases, will be more original and engaging!

- your plot generation system (a Tarot deck) fits easily in a pocket or purse ... so you're not required to carry around a bulky, spiral-bound book everywhere you go!

- unlike the Movie Plot Generator (which gets a little stale and repititious after the first use), your plot generation system can be refreshed and expanded simply by switching to a different Tarot deck!

- because your own perceptions generate the options, you have access to an infinite number of plot ideas ... so you aren't limited to the Movie Plot Generator's 2700 plot combinations!

STEP ONE: Instant Protagonists!

The formula: A/An/The [Card One: Adjective] [Card Two: Person] ...

What to do: Draw two cards and steal ideas from the illustrations to fill in the blanks above.

Example: To help him break through writer's block, Stephano sits down with his Tarot deck and draws two cards from the Aquatic Tarot:

 

Based on the pictures, he brainstorms a series of options. Each one is a combination of an adjective (inspired by Card One) and a type of person (inspired by Card Two):

Card One	Card Two
A chubby	boat captain
A smug	villain in exile
A cross-dressing	cruise ship employee
A hard-drinking	mother and child team
A guarded	riverboat gambler

Then, for extra ideas, he swaps cards one and two and generates even more protagonists:

- A depressed merchant
- A sopping-wet bartender
- A defeated Hobbit
- A sword-making alcoholic
- A traveling thief

STEP TWO: Hilarious Hijinks!

The formula: ... [Card Three: Action/Situation]

What to do: Draw another card, and fill in the blank.

Example: Let's say you draw the following card from The Bright Idea Deck (due out in March 2005 from Llewellyn):

 

That done, you brainstorm the following hijinks, based on the picture and keyword:

- quits his job
- steals office supplies
- dresses as a woman
- buys a cursed object at a yard sale
- throws out an old boyfriend's things
- feels compelled to give everything to charity
- takes a job as a relief worker
- goes in search of a more satisfying career

STEP THREE: The Finishing Touch!

The formula: With / To / Because + [Card Four]

What to do: Draw one last card, and use it to generate ideas for your final blank.

Example: Let's say you draw this card from the Bright Idea Deck:

 

Inspired by the illustration and the keyword, you brainstorm these finishing touches:

- to invent a miniaturization machine
- with a mad sculptor
- because he dreams of being a famous artist
- to explore having more by having less
- with a friend who prefers "old fashioned ways"
- because she wants to get things done faster
- to make a point about the evils of mass production
- with a visionary inventor
- because she's involved in a secret art project

STEP FOUR: Piece it together.

From your fragments, you can then produce an amazing array of instant, no-brainer plots:

- A cross-dressing cruise ship employee takes a job as a relief worker because she's involved in a secret art project.

- A chubby boat captain throws out an old boyfriend's things because he dreams of being a famous artist.

- A traveling thief steals office supplies to make a point about the evils of mass production.

- A hard-drinking mother and child team buy a cursed object at a yard sale: a miniaturization machine.

You can build your own plots in seconds with this amazing, flexible system! And now, you'll have to pardon me ... I'm got some writing to do.