Unexpected fun

You will recall that last week I entertained myself by playing with the Plot Genie, a relic of the 1920s that pulp fiction writers of the time could use to jumpstart their creative process.

To recap: A spin of the wheel on the handy-dandy Plot Robot gives you a number, and then you look up the number in the appropriate section of the index to get your item. It’s like an improv troupe getting suggestions from the audience — totally random ideas thrown at you, and then you have to make something of them.

Here’s what I was handed:

• LOCALE: a wealthy home

• CHARACTER: a photographer

• BELOVED: an adventuress

• PROBLEM: desired accomplishments opposed by suspicion

• OBSTACLE TO LOVE: Beloved is not sure her love is returned

• COMPLICATION: deception threatens loss of position

• PREDICAMENT: sacrifice to passion endangers life

• CRISIS: [I gave this one a pass; all the CRISES were Cecil–B.–Demille–sized disasters, and even after abandoning my assigned number and scanning the list, I just couldn’t see squeezing a religious war into what seemed to be a drawing room comedy.]

• CLIMAX: wherein a compromise is worked out between hero and enemy and a minor sacrifice is made

Somehow — probably because we watched The Thin Man that night — what was supposed to be a short story immediately became a screenplay for what I’ve been calling a semi-romcom heist movie.

It’s been great fun to work on, at least so far. I have the opening scene and the final two scenes written and I’m liking what I’ve done. The plot twist in the finale is really fun if I do say so myself. I’ll provide more details once I get everybody’s motivations clear.

But now…