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Common Storytelling Plot Devices, Explained

A lot of the storytelling techniques that make movies and novels feel satisfying (or frustrating) have specific names. Here are the ones that come up most often in discussions of craft.

Chekhov's gun

The principle that any significant object or detail introduced early in a story should matter later, and conversely, that nothing important should appear without setup. Named after playwright Anton Chekhov, who argued that a gun shown on the wall in act one must be fired by the final act.

MacGuffin

An object, goal, or piece of information that drives the plot forward purely by being something characters want or need, even though its specific nature barely matters to the story itself. A briefcase of unknown contents that characters chase across an entire film is a classic example β€” what matters is the pursuit, not the contents.

Red herring

A clue or plot element deliberately placed to mislead the audience or characters toward a false conclusion, especially common in mystery and thriller writing. A suspicious character who turns out to be innocent, planted specifically to distract from the real culprit, is a typical red herring.

Deus ex machina

An abrupt, often implausible resolution to a conflict introduced by a new element that was not previously set up, resolving a problem the story could not otherwise solve. It is usually considered a weakness in storytelling because it skips the payoff the audience was set up to expect from existing plot elements.

Foreshadowing

A hint or clue planted earlier in a story that signals something that will happen later, allowing an ending to feel earned and inevitable in hindsight rather than random. Unlike Chekhov's gun, foreshadowing does not need to involve a literal object β€” it can be a line of dialogue, a visual detail, or a recurring theme.

Framing device

A narrative structure where a story is told within the context of another story, often through a narrator recounting events from the past. It lets a writer control perspective and reveal information selectively, since the reader only knows what the narrator chooses to share.

Why these devices are worth knowing by name

Having specific vocabulary for these patterns makes it easier to articulate why a story works or does not β€” a movie criticized for a weak ending is often specifically failing at avoiding deus ex machina, and a story praised for tight plotting is often praised for disciplined use of Chekhov's gun and foreshadowing.

Some devices work because they are subtle, others because they are obvious

A MacGuffin works precisely because the audience does not think too hard about it β€” it exists to justify character motivation, not to be scrutinized. A red herring, by contrast, has to be just plausible enough to genuinely mislead without feeling unfair once the truth is revealed, which is a much harder balance for a writer to strike.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a MacGuffin considered bad writing?

Not inherently β€” many well-regarded films use MacGuffins deliberately, since the goal is often to study character behavior and motivation rather than the object itself. It becomes a problem only when a story expects the audience to care about the object's specifics when it was never meant to matter.

What's the difference between foreshadowing and a red herring?

Foreshadowing points toward something that genuinely happens later, rewarding attentive readers. A red herring points toward something that deliberately does not happen, intentionally misleading the audience before the real answer is revealed.