Demystifying the Myth

Hollywood script consultant Christopher Vogler, who worked on epic films like The Lion King and Fight Club wrote a book called The Writers Journey which has since become a seminal text for anyone interested in how to use myths and archetypes to help resolve the challenges of devising the perfect plot.  If you haven't already read it, rush out and borrow or buy a copy.  Although I wouldn't follow it to slavishly, his advice is great for getting yourself thinking and asking pertinent and important questions.

Vogler starts from the premise that a narrative is activated when the hero is called to adventure. See -- already you have something that you can apply  to your own work! Why not write the opening scene of a story in which a dream, an accident, a coincidence, a revelation, a loss or a warning acts as a catalyst to spurring the hero into action and setting the plot in motion.  You could try it several times over, experimenting with different calls -  try them all -- and you'll find that you have the material for a whole raft of writing.  And that's just the start of it...

I think you can't beat a good door as a call to adventure, or a call to something, or someone....