Seven Basic Story Plots

[Toni1953]

I've heard that there are 7 basic story plots.
does anyone know what they are? I'm curious.

[smiley10000]

I just read that there are two plots in the world...

The quest and new guy in town

:Shrug: 10000

[Cath]

If in doubt, google:

http://www.answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=210539

(Worth reading the whole post - they offer 2 versions of the 7 different plots)

[Tirjasdyn]

Let's see...

Man vs Man

Man vs Nature

Man vs himself

And those slight shoot offs:

Man vs god

Nature vs Nature

Man vs woman

huh...that's only six.

[TSByrne]

You're fogetting "Man versus Mutant Dinosaurs."

[Shadow_Ferret]

I was taught there were 3.
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Nature
Man vs Hisself.

Where did the other 4 come from? Granted I was taught by Pindar, so maybe they've created a few since then.

[katiemac]

I'm certain Uncle Jim covered these in his Learn Writing thread. Of course, I can't find it now...

[Kate Thornton]

Not the "7 plots" but have you looked at Lester Dent's Masterplot? Here's a link:

http://www.miskatonic.org/dent.html

[Jamesaritchie]

I was taught there were 3.
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Nature
Man vs Hisself.

Where did the other 4 come from? Granted I was taught by Pindar, so maybe they've created a few since then.

Add man versus God and you really have all the basic plots.

[Liam Jackson]

It's all in how you dice the apple.

The 36 Plots by Loren Miller

Supplication - Persecutor, Suppliant, a Power in Authority
Deliverance - Unfortunates, Threatener, Rescuer
Revenge - Avenger, Criminal
Vengeance by Family upon Family - Avenging Kinsman, Guilty Kinsman, Relative
Pursuit - Fugitive from Punishment, Pursuer
Victim of Cruelty or Misfortune - Unfortunates, Master or Unlucky Person
Disaster - Vanquished Power, Victorious Power or Messenger
Revolt - Tyrant, Conspirator(s)
Daring Enterprise - Bold Leader, Goal, Adversary
Abduction - Abductor, Abducted, Guardian
Enigma - Interrogator, Seeker, Problem
Obtaining - Two or more Opposing Parties, Object, maybe an Arbitrator
Familial Hatred - Two Family Members who hate each other
Familial Rivalry - Preferred Kinsman, Rejected Kinsman, Object
Murderous Adultery - Two Adulterers, the Betrayed
Madness - Madman, Victim
Fatal Imprudence - Imprudent person, Victim or lost object
Involuntary Crimes of Love - Lover, Beloved, Revealer
Kinsman Kills Unrecognised Kinsman - Killer, Unrecognised Victim, Revealer
Self Sacrifice for an Ideal - Hero, Ideal, Person or Thing Sacrificed
Self Sacrifice for Kindred - Hero, Kinsman, Person or Thing Sacrificed
All Sacrificed for Passion - Lover, Object of Passion, Person or Thing Sacrificed
Sacrifice of Loved Ones - Hero, Beloved Victim, Need for Sacrifice
Rivalry Between Superior and Inferior - Superior, Inferior, Object
Adultery - Deceived Spouse, Two Adulterers
Crimes of Love - Lover, Beloved, theme of Dissolution
Discovery of Dishonor of a Loved One - Discoverer, Guilty One
Obstacles to Love - Two Lovers, Obstacle
An Enemy Loved - Beloved Enemy, Lover, Hater
Ambition - An Ambitious Person, Coveted Thing, Adversary
Conflict with a God - Mortal, Immortal
Mistaken Jealousy - Jealous One, Object of Jealousy, Supposed Accomplice, Author of Mistake
Faulty Judgment - Mistaken One, Victim of Mistake, Author of Mistake, Guilty Person
Remorse - Culprit, Victim, Interrogator
Recovery of a Lost One - Seeker, One Found
Loss of Loved Ones - Kinsman Slain, Kinsman Witness, Executioner

I think the list is comprised of plot devices, all of which can be used in one of four plot categories:
Man aganist God
Man against Nature
Man against Self
Man against Man

BTW, long before Miller's time, Gozzi (1921) created the prescursor to the list above and called it, "The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations." (book by the same title.)

[three seven]

Jaws

Fight Club

The Cannonball Run

Simple!

[Gillhoughly]

Years back some *bleep* told me that by way of a put-down to my budding writing career. She threw it out in an off-hand manner, as though she had all the answers and getting published wasn't all THAT hard, blah-blah-blah.

Well, I've got a buncha books in print and she doesn't.

Ignore lists. Just write well and sell. :snoopy:

[Liam Jackson]

Gil, if it wasn't for all the lists and books on writing, I would never have known how many rules I broke in route to selling my first book.

[UrsusMinor]

I just read that there are two plots in the world...

The quest and new guy in town

I know a novelist who says something similar:

1) Someone goes on a journey, and
2) A stranger comes to town.

He then adds that these are the same story told from different points of view...so there is only one plot.

There is also "20 Master Plots" (Ronald Tobias) and another system that has 54.

This kind of stuff is amusing, but I'm with Gillhoughly--it's also kinda useless.

=========
PS Don't forget "Man vs Publishing Industry."

[Jamesaritchie]

I know a novelist who says something similar:

1) Someone goes on a journey, and
2) A stranger comes to town.



I wouldn;t consider either of these a plot. The plot is the confict that arises when the stranger comes to town, or the conflict thperson finds when he leaves town, both of which will fall under the four basic plots.

And what about all the stories where a stranger doesn't come to town, and no one leaves leaves town?

I think the most important thing about plots is to understand that all plots are pretty much meaningless. Writers do not sell plots, they sell stories, and plots and stories are very different things.

A good story can sell a lousy plot, but even the best plot won't sell a bad story.

[MidnightMuse]

Well when you think about it, humans only come in three flavors: Male, Female and Hermaphrodite.

But look at how different we all are from each other?

Sure, plots can be boiled down to a simple list of distinctions, but it's the flavor and spices that you boil it with that make up the meal.

[jbal]

Add man versus God and you really have all the basic plots.
I think man vs. God can be lumped in with man vs. nature
When I heard this there were only those three.

[Jamesaritchie]

I think man vs. God can be lumped in with man vs. nature
When I heard this there were only those three.

Well, there were four when I first heard them. That was forty years ago, and I've read it in books older than that. And four is what we were taught in college back in the late seventies.

I suppose it depends on whether you think God and nature are the same thing. I wouldn't, God is at least as different from nature as is man, but that's me.

[janetbellinger]

Maybe we're better off not knowing for sure.

[three seven]

I suppose it depends on whether you think God and nature are the same thing. I wouldn't, God is at least as different from nature as is man, but that's me.
We should probably not have this conversation. :)

[Thomma Lyn]

LOL, I blogged about this, day before yesterday. In my blog post, I included this great link from The Straight Dope:

What Are the Seven Basic Literary Plots? (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/001124.html)

Read it, but don't weep. Laugh. :D

[Soccer Mom]

I'm going to read the above link, but in school, I was taught that there are four basic types of conflict (not four plots)

man vs. man (this includes man vs. himself)
man vs. nature
man vs. God
man vs. supernatural (this includes mutant dinosaurs :)

Entertaining link. I've now read it.

[Jamesaritchie]

I'm going to read the above link, but in school, I was taught that there are four basic types of conflict (not four plots)

man vs. man (this includes man vs. himself)
man vs. nature
man vs. God
man vs. supernatural (this includes mutant dinosaurs :)

Entertaining link. I've now read it.

Conflict is plot.

[Soccer Mom]

I always though plot was what happened in the story. The plot is the series of events that builds the story. Conflict is what drives the series of events. Opposing forces want different things and the push and shove makes things happen. But maybe that is a simplistic view on my part.

[Sonny Palermo]

For three seven, who wrote:

Jaws

Fight Club

The Cannonball Run

Simple!

I read 2-3 books per week, avg, alternating between classics, educational and guilty pleasure, and I tried Fight Club (as well as his book with the dead bird on the cover) and I KNOW it's just a matter of taste but I just don't see the base of Chuck, its size and intensity. The one with the guy in the stockades? I liked that one, but Fight Club I thought "just OK" although I'm in a minority and it did break him in a big way. And the bird one? Lost interest.

Now, Cannonball Run? I understand. Not a fan, but I understand its appeal to the masses (see Gene Wilders speech to Sheriff Bart on the "rurals" after he went out for a morning stroll).

On Benchley - I'm talkin with the mom last week, lamenting the sad but usually true fact that if a new writer doesn't kick some *** with his first effort it becomes even more difficult with his second effort. She says, "Not true, Peter Benchley told me he didn't do too well with his first book, but he was able to find success with his next book."
I explained that those were different times in the pub biz, and corrected her - "You mean you read somewhere that Benchley said that."
And she corrected me - "No, he told me. I had lunch with him a couple times" which had me asking how that little detail escaped any previous conversations we've had over the course of, you know - life.
Turns out he was a regular patient at the doctors office she worked at, and he liked to take the staff out to lunch on occasion. Nice guy (although the Hooper and Brody's wife part was a stretch for me).

For Leoni - I think Kipling was referring to porn plots.
And the line "there is only one plot - stuff happens" - pretty funny.

[Jamesaritchie]

I always though plot was what happened in the story. The plot is the series of events that builds the story. Conflict is what drives the series of events. Opposing forces want different things and the push and shove makes things happen. But maybe that is a simplistic view on my part.

Largely true, but it's conflict that makes plot and story. If you have no conflict, you have no plot, you just have a series of events.

Conflict doesn't just drive the series of events, conflict is what makes the series of events a plot. It might be fairer to say that conflict is the cornerstone of plot, because without it, a series of events means nothing, and this is why a lot of first novels fail.

I think the best way I can say it is that conflict is the cornerstone of plot, plot is what will happen, or what did happen, depending on whether you look at plot before or after the story is written, and story is the manner in which plot unfolds.

You start with conflict, this gives you plot, and the manner in which the plot unfolds is the story.

Of the three, plot is far and away the least important. A great plot is nearly always the byproduct of a great story, not the other way around.

In my opinion, most new writers give far too much importance to plot. Plot isn't going to get you anywhere. Conflict and story get you somewhere. Confluct generates plot, and story how well teh plot happens. But I hear so many writers complain about not having a plot, or stuggling to come up with a plot, etc. Of course it's a struggle. The conerstone of conflict isn't in place, and without it, you can't build anything worthwhile.

Even the old argument between plot-driven and character-driven stories is a false one. It's far more often conflict-driven or character-driven, but either/or usually means the writer didn't pay enough attention to the other. One is used as an excuse not to do the other well.

Though in fairness, an awful lot of the better, and bestselling, "plot-driven" novels are really very heavy on characterization, but new writers often overlook this in writing their own "plot-driven" novel.

[Soccer Mom]

Yes, I think I see what your saying and I agree. Well interesting characters in an interesting situation creates conflict which causes plot. All the elements need to be present or the story suffers.

Lack of interesting characters is my biggest problem with some of the popular thrillers out there. If I don't want to know more about the people, I just don't care about the story.

[IThinkICan29]

Does anyone actually sit down and think....ok this story will be "man vs. man, or man vs nature...etc" before they begin a novel? I usually just come up with an awesome character, an interesting sitch, and toss them in it. Am I doing something wrong?

[Gillhoughly]

There are only three kinds of writers:

The ones who check out lists...

the ones who are busy writing...

and the ones who hang in the bar kvetching about the other two kinds. :tongue

http://firstrung.co.uk/dbimgs/three%20stooges.bmp

[badducky]

I've always been taught that the "MvM, MvN, MvS" were the three types of conflict, not plot. Also, a writer of Westerns suggested that this was why Westerns are superior, because all three are automatically built right into the genre.

I suspect that that little "versus" symbol in the middle is further proof that this may be about the conflict, not the plot.

As far as plots, I prefer mine six-feet deep, and six feet tall, and about three feet wide. Other then that, I couldn't tell you...

[Ordinary_Guy]

Okay...
Largely true, but it's conflict that makes plot and story. If you have no conflict, you have no plot, you just have a series of events.

Conflict doesn't just drive the series of events, conflict is what makes the series of events a plot. It might be fairer to say that conflict is the cornerstone of plot, because without it, a series of events means nothing, and this is why a lot of first novels fail.
Plot needs conflict. Check. It's almost safe to say that the plot is the conflict.
I think the best way I can say it is that conflict is the cornerstone of plot, plot is what will happen, or what did happen, depending on whether you look at plot before or after the story is written, and story is the manner in which plot unfolds.

You start with conflict, this gives you plot, and the manner in which the plot unfolds is the story.
Plot unfolds into story. Gotcha.
Of the three, plot is far and away the least important. A great plot is nearly always the byproduct of a great story, not the other way around.
Not sure I follow on that one, but that's okay.
In my opinion, most new writers give far too much importance to plot. Plot isn't going to get you anywhere. Conflict and story get you somewhere. Confluct generates plot, and story how well teh plot happens. But I hear so many writers complain about not having a plot, or stuggling to come up with a plot, etc. Of course it's a struggle. The conerstone of conflict isn't in place, and without it, you can't build anything worthwhile.
Ironic. I read a lot of general-fiction folk that just "let their characters drive the story" and trumpet how character-driven story is the only way to go (and are usually the same folk that are challenged to produce a grocery list, much less outline a novel). The plotoholics, OTOH, seem to be concentrated in the SF or thriller sections.
Even the old argument between plot-driven and character-driven stories is a false one. It's far more often conflict-driven or character-driven, but either/or usually means the writer didn't pay enough attention to the other. One is used as an excuse not to do the other well.
This seems right on – I've said this myself... but something about it is making me twitch.
Though in fairness, an awful lot of the better, and bestselling, "plot-driven" novels are really very heavy on characterization, but new writers often overlook this in writing their own "plot-driven" novel.
I think I'm starting to understand the twitch: if we boil "conflict" to its very essence, we find the irreducible element is tension. Conflict is irrelevant if an audience doesn't care about the character. On the flip side, character without tension isn't a story, it's a profile.

Is it time to chuck the old "Plot = Man vs. XYZ" description? Restate as: "Story = tension created and resolved"?

[ChaosTitan]

Does anyone actually sit down and think....ok this story will be "man vs. man, or man vs nature...etc" before they begin a novel?

I doubt it. That sort of reflection usually comes during the writing, or once it's complete, and seems to be a result of the way we are "taught to write." We learn how to analyze fiction in school, so that seeps over into our habits as writers, and we begin to analyze our own stuff.

It doesn't seem terribly useful for the writing process. Only when we want to deconstruct something that's all ready written.

[LightShadow]

I've always heard that good characterization equals plot.

[triceretops]

man vs. man (this includes man vs. himself)
man vs. nature
man vs. God
man vs. supernatural (this includes mutant dinosaurs :)

Well, I'm really screwed because I thought those were general themes and not plots or devices or conflict. Yeah, I guess themes can be described with single words: redemption, maturity, or some other such modifier.

BTW, I HAVE mutant dinos in my story!!! Now which one of you peeps knew that?

Tri

[Jamesaritchie]

Originally Posted by Jamesaritchie
Of the three, plot is far and away the least important. A great plot is nearly always the byproduct of a great story, not the other way around.


Not sure I follow on that one, but that's okay.

I suppose you could call this the approach of most who write without an outline. Maybe Ray Bradbury says it best. To those who write without an outline, who begin with a situation, with conflict, but who never once think about plot in teh writing, plot becomes, as Bradbury says:

"Remember, plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations. Plot is observed after the fact rather than before. It cannot precede action. It is the chart that remains when an action is though. That is all plot ever should be. It is human desire let run, running, and reaching a goal. It cannot be mechanical. It can only be dynamic."

Stephen King says: "Plot is, I think, the good writer's last resort and the dullard's first choice."


In other words, character and situation and story come first. It you tell a good story, you get a good plot for free. Plot is a byproduct, something you look back and see as footprints in the snow after a character has run by, and not something you see or plan in advance. Begin with conflict, tell a good story, and there will always be a plot that you can look back and see.

But even if you begin with the best plot in the world, you can still turn it into a rotten story. Good story is not the byproduct of a plot, good or bad. Give ten writers the same plot and you'll get back ten different stories of varying quality. But find ten writers who have told ten good stories, and it won't matter in the least whether any of them started with a plot, or even thought about plot a single time during the writing. Simply by telling a good story, all ten writers will have produced a solid plot as a byproduct of the good story. Any good story automatically has a solid plot, but all the solid plots in the world do not automatically produce a good story. If a good plot could produce a good story, then any writer who conceives a good plot, or who borrows a proven plot from someone else, would turn that plot into a good story, and we all know this doesn't often happen.

I think the telling words are:

Plot is observed after the fact rather than before. It cannot precede action. It is the chart that remains when an action is though. That is all plot ever should be.

Even most writers who outline and try to start with plot usually make drastic changes to the plot as the story unfolds, and do not see the plot as it really is until after the story is written and they look back at the footprints the characters left in teh snow.

[Jamesaritchie]

I've always heard that good characterization equals plot.

I wouldn't argue with that, either. Everything is connected. Plot and story affect character, and character definitely affects plot and story. Every aspect of a story has to work in harmony with every other aspect, or nothing works as well as it should.

[Ordinary_Guy]

I suppose you could call this the approach of most who write without an outline. Maybe Ray Bradbury says it best...
Ah. Okay, cool. Thank you – that is clearer.

I can definitely see that POV – and if it works, great.

...Personally, it feels like a "trendy" story-telling style – where the writer is attempting improvisational method acting through their characters. In the hands of the average writer, it makes for a simple plot – which may make great characters but may miss out on the complexities of real life.

Think of the classics – back to greek tragedy. Think of the allegories crammed into the world's "holy texts" (how many "prodigal son" stories can you think of in one minute?). Think of "Much Ado About Nothing." These are the foundation of story-telling – and they're plot-centric.

It seems character-centric storytelling is as much an evolution as it is a reaction against tradition. I think it's a legitimate reaction – there's definitely dramatic value in the exploration of the individual – but to let it guide your story? To me, at least, it seems too reactive and not enough proactive.

Perhaps we need to nudge the "outline" crowd. Redefine the usual methods of plotting so characterization doesn't suffer in the process. I can see individual color suffering if someone tries to drop a story arc into an outline – but it's something else entirely to create a story in broad strokes, then bring more detail in the narrative.

But that's just me.

[Liam Jackson]

There are only three kinds of writers:

The ones who check out lists...

the ones who are busy writing...

and the ones who hang in the bar kvetching about the other two kinds. :tongue





That's me in the center of the pic. ;)

[Liam Jackson]

There are only three kinds of writers:

The ones who check out lists...

the ones who are busy writing...

and the ones who hang in the bar kvetching about the other two kinds. :tongue


http://firstrung.co.uk/dbimgs/three%20stooges.bmp

That's me in the center of the pic. ^

[Toni1953]

This was an excellent discussion. I really learned a lot!

And Liam, you are a cutie!

[gp101]

... it's conflict that makes plot and story. If you have no conflict, you have no plot, you just have a series of events.

Conflict doesn't just drive the series of events, conflict is what makes the series of events a plot. It might be fairer to say that conflict is the cornerstone of plot, because without it, a series of events means nothing, and this is why a lot of first novels fail.

I think the best way I can say it is that conflict is the cornerstone of plot, plot is what will happen, or what did happen, depending on whether you look at plot before or after the story is written, and story is the manner in which plot unfolds.

You start with conflict, this gives you plot, and the manner in which the plot unfolds is the story.




Sums up everything. Damn, James, you're good. If you have to go by one, and only one, theory/rule/guide, I'd make it what James just wrote. Without it, you have a slice of a character's life that may be interesting, but won't sustain a reader's interest throughout the course of a novel. I don't care how pretty your words are, or how eloquent or poetic your passages are. No conflict? No soup for you.

[zeprosnepsid]

Does anyone actually sit down and think....ok this story will be "man vs. man, or man vs nature...etc" before they begin a novel? I usually just come up with an awesome character, an interesting sitch, and toss them in it. Am I doing something wrong?

I think people come to their novels from different angles. Some people start from characters, some from a plot idea, some from a high concept, some simply from an image. But I certainly don't think it's unreasonable to be sitting around and thinking "It could be really interesting to do a man versus nature story... I've always been fascinated by hurricanes" or to go "I want to create a really great villian" which is more or less the same as sitting around deciding I'm going to write 'man vs. man'.

[Soccer Mom]

Looking at the types of conflict and such is an interesting way of analyzing works that have been written. I think this is why we learned it in school. Categories can help you think critically about a story and breaking it down into parts can help understand how the whole fits together.

But it doesn't help you write your story.

[expatbrat]

Well when you think about it, humans only come in three flavors: Male, Female and Hermaphrodite.

But look at how different we all are from each other?

Sure, plots can be boiled down to a simple list of distinctions, but it's the flavor and spices that you boil it with that make up the meal.


Sorry - couldn't resist.
Actually they come in 5. In Thailand there are 5 official sexes. They are:

Straight Male
Straight Female
Gay man who looks like a man.
Pre-op Lady Boy
Post Op Lady Boy.

I had the pleasure of seeing one of these post ops in one of the acrobatic orifice shows Pattaya is famous for – very convincing, I can see how so many tourists fall for that mistake.

And don’t go blaming me there is no 6th sex for gay women who looks like a women or 7th gay women who looks like a man. There just isn’t.

[Rob Gregory Browne]

There's only one basic plot:

Somebody gets in trouble and has a helluva time getting out of it.

[maestrowork]

There's only one basic plot:

Somebody gets in trouble and has a helluva time getting out of it.

Not really. We can actually reduce it down to:

Major conflict.


There, here's your basic plot.

[smiley10000]

Conflict is plot.

James I think you misunderstood what these plot list are trying to tell us. Of course, plot is conflict, but, these lists come to answer what kind of conflict.

The 'vs' means conflict. "What happens when my MC discovers a colony of Mutant Dinosaurs planning to take over the world?" (which, by the way, I would classify as Man vs. Nature--mutation is nature gone biserk just like an avalanche or volcano)This is the plot, the roots of conflict.

IMVHO, everyone thinks about this before starting a story, even if only subconciously. You aren't going to think "Why don't I write a story about Man vs. XYZ" but your idea must inevitably fall into one of these categories.

The concept of plot lists is that a person cannot create a plot outside of them. There are an infinite number of variations of Man vs. Man but they all boil down to the same conflict and therefore similar rules. My two opposing characters must at least have the potential of being equally matched. (Even if they are fom two different dimensions and are fighting for control of a third.)

Of course, this discussion is all acedemic. Write the story and let the critics categorize it as they wish. However, I think it's important not to throw these lists out the window but rather understand what they are trying to teach us.
An architect must follows the laws of gravity (i.e. he can't build a 100 story office tower in the shape of a pyramid turned on its head). He has to start with a viable foundation and build up from there. It is how he builds up that makes the architecture award winning.
A writer must do the same. Nature vs. Nature would be a pretty lousy story (who cares what happens when a tsunami hits a volcano unless people are caught in the middle?). We, as writers, need to understand that the foundations of story writing are finite. The details and resolution of conflict that makes our writing award winning as well.

:D 10000

[Rob Gregory Browne]

Not really. We can actually reduce it down to:

Major conflict.
Uh, yeah. That was basically my point. :)

[Higgins]

It's all in how you dice the apple.

The 36 Plots by Loren Miller

Supplication - Persecutor, Suppliant, a Power in Authority
Deliverance - Unfortunates, Threatener, Rescuer
Revenge - Avenger, Criminal
Vengeance by Family upon Family - Avenging Kinsman, Guilty Kinsman, Relative
Pursuit - Fugitive from Punishment, Pursuer
Victim of Cruelty or Misfortune - Unfortunates, Master or Unlucky Person
Disaster - Vanquished Power, Victorious Power or Messenger
Revolt - Tyrant, Conspirator(s)
Daring Enterprise - Bold Leader, Goal, Adversary
Abduction - Abductor, Abducted, Guardian
Enigma - Interrogator, Seeker, Problem
Obtaining - Two or more Opposing Parties, Object, maybe an Arbitrator
Familial Hatred - Two Family Members who hate each other
Familial Rivalry - Preferred Kinsman, Rejected Kinsman, Object
Murderous Adultery - Two Adulterers, the Betrayed
Madness - Madman, Victim
Fatal Imprudence - Imprudent person, Victim or lost object
Involuntary Crimes of Love - Lover, Beloved, Revealer
Kinsman Kills Unrecognised Kinsman - Killer, Unrecognised Victim, Revealer
Self Sacrifice for an Ideal - Hero, Ideal, Person or Thing Sacrificed
Self Sacrifice for Kindred - Hero, Kinsman, Person or Thing Sacrificed
All Sacrificed for Passion - Lover, Object of Passion, Person or Thing Sacrificed
Sacrifice of Loved Ones - Hero, Beloved Victim, Need for Sacrifice
Rivalry Between Superior and Inferior - Superior, Inferior, Object
Adultery - Deceived Spouse, Two Adulterers
Crimes of Love - Lover, Beloved, theme of Dissolution
Discovery of Dishonor of a Loved One - Discoverer, Guilty One
Obstacles to Love - Two Lovers, Obstacle
An Enemy Loved - Beloved Enemy, Lover, Hater
Ambition - An Ambitious Person, Coveted Thing, Adversary
Conflict with a God - Mortal, Immortal
Mistaken Jealousy - Jealous One, Object of Jealousy, Supposed Accomplice, Author of Mistake
Faulty Judgment - Mistaken One, Victim of Mistake, Author of Mistake, Guilty Person
Remorse - Culprit, Victim, Interrogator
Recovery of a Lost One - Seeker, One Found
Loss of Loved Ones - Kinsman Slain, Kinsman Witness, Executioner
I think the list is comprised of plot devices, all of which can be used in one of four plot categories:
Man aganist God
Man against Nature
Man against Self
Man against Man

BTW, long before Miller's time, Gozzi (1921) created the prescursor to the list above and called it, "The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations." (book by the same title.)

So putting number 17 into the man vs nature category:

17 as man vs nature: Fatal Natural Imprudence,
the naturally imprudent, the natural victim

Bird craps on boy, boy is puzzled. Which modulates to number
11 (Enigma)...Boy wonders why this bird crapped on him.

This seems to resolve itself without any conflict.

[Tracy]

Here's an article I wrote for my newsletter:

I like the book ‘The Seven Basic Plots – Why we tell stories’ by Christopher Booker. It’s a massive book at over 700 pages of small print, not an easy read, and it’s not cheap at STG£25.00.
But it’s an excellent resource, and perhaps one which anybody who’s interested in writing could consider. The author goes back into the mists of time to the first stories, and traces the history of story-telling from there forward, and has found that there are seven basic stories which resonate at some deep level with humans. These seven stories are:

· Overcoming the monster
· Rags to riches
· The Quest
· Voyage and return
· Comedy
· Tragedy
· Rebirth

(Although he does go on to make the point that each plot can be boiled down to 'coming out of the darkness into the light'. This doesn't contradict with the other definitions of plot, i.e. getting into trouble and getting out of it; or 'conflict' (that's the darkness), and conflict by itself isn't the plot - it's conflict and how the protagonist deals with it/beats it/is beaten by it.

Anyway, here's a brief synopsis of his chapters on the 7 different plots.

The overcoming the monster story is as old as civilisation. A monster is threatening the safety of the village/country/world, and one hero has to beat it and save the day. We see this plot again and again in examples such as Jaws and Jurassic Park. But it’s also to be seen in less obvious in World War II stories where Hitler’s army is the ‘monster’, or in Westerns such as The Magnificent Seven or High Noon. I think that all the James Bond films always consist of this plot as some maniacal power-crazy despot plans to destroy the whole world, and one hero (old JB himself) saves the day against all the odds.

The thriller is usually also shaped by the overcoming the monster plot, as are many science fiction stories (Orson Welle’s War of the Worlds is a classic example), and of course Star Wars is a classic example.

Rags to Riches does what it says on the tin. Stories such as Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk are typical examples, as are the stories of Eliza Doolittle, David Copperfield and Oliver. Even the biblical story of Joseph is a Rags to Riches story, in essence. Modern examples include a film in the cinemas right now, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The Quest is of course a classic tale. From Homer’s Iliad to The Lord of the Rings and even Stephen Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, it’s a story which resonates deep within us. In this story the hero(es) need something, (to get home, to destroy the ring, to find the treasure), and the story follows their adventures as they try to do this. The main story question is: will he/she/they succeed? Of course there are trials along the way, obstacles to be overcome, and they keep the flow of the story going.

Examples of the Voyage and return plot include Alice in Wonderland and Goldilocks. But The Time Machine is also an example of this plot. Its central premise is that your protagonist travel out of their familiar, everyday normal surroundings into a new alien world. They have to cope with this new world until eventually after a thrilling escape, they return home. The Wizard of Oz, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, and Peter Pan provide further examples from children’s fiction. The classic adult version is Robinson Crusoe. Tom Hank’s film Castaway would be a modern example.

This plot also encompasses people leaving their own social milieu for a strange one, such as Gulliver’s Travels. Crocodile Dundee and Three Men and a Baby provide modern examples.

Stories fall into two distinct categories : those where the hero(ine) is transformed by his/her experiences and those where he/she isn’t. My own feeling is that those stories where they protagonist is transformed (providing a character arc), are the more satisfying.

In this book, comedy has a very specific meaning. It’s not simply any story which is funny (many Voyage and return stories are funny, but they’re not comedy). The heart of comedy is a conflict between two characters (or groups of characters).
One represents life and liberation and truth, and the other, darkness and life-defying obsessions. In these stories the resolution depends on the ‘dark’ characters are forced to recognise what they’re doing and to change for the better. Something is discovered which transforms the situation. Comedy is typified by misunderstandings and mistaken identities. A lot of Shakespeare’s plays are Comedies in this sense.
Comedy is perhaps one of the more complex plots, and it’s proving difficult to provide a summary … suffice to say it’s extremely interesting and if you get the book this chapter would perhaps be of great interest.

Tragedy is also complex, but at heart, it’s a hero being tempted or impelled into a course of action which is some way forbidden. For a time the hero enjoys success, but things get out of control, and it eventually culminates in the hero’s destruction. Jekyll and Hyde is a classic example, as would be Phantom of the Opera.

We can see examples of the Rebirth stories in children’s stories such as Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. The heroine falls under a dark spell which traps them for a time, they endure physical or spiritual imprisonment. Then an act of redemption takes place, (usually an act by another person) and they are liberated into the light again. Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is an adult example of this plot.


This, as you may imagine, is a whirlwind tour around a fascinating and complex subject. (And this is only the first half of the book; the second half speaks more about the structure of stories and our need for them). I have given myself hours of amusement trying to identify which plot characterises favourite books and films. (Some, of course, may have elements of more than one plot, particularly if there are sub-plots).

But I think it’s important for us as writers because these are the plots which have stood the test of time. These are the stories which resonate with people, of all eras and all cultures. These then, are plots which have a good chance of being sold to publishers, and bought by readers, and read and enjoyed. Certainly I, for one, am going to look at all my future books with a view to identifying which plot category they fall into. As you may have seen from these examples, and will certainly see from the book itself, there’s no shortage of variations on these plots. Being aware of them will not be a limitation but a framework.

[herdon]

There are however many plots that the person who is stating the maximum number of plots wants to say.

You can read articles saying there are 1, 2, 3, 7, 53, etc, different plot lines.

I'll go with there just being one plot line for now:

Characters are introduced, Conflict is introduced, Conflict is resolved.

;)

[Tracy]

I've read a brilliant book called ‘The Seven Basic Plots – Why we tell stories’ by Christopher Booker.

It’s a massive book at over 700 pages of small print, not an easy read, and it’s not cheap at STG£25.00. But it’s an excellent resource, and perhaps one which anybody who’s interested in writing could consider. The author goes back into the mists of time to the first stories, and traces the history of story-telling from there forward, and has found that there are seven basic stories which resonate at some deep level with humans. These seven stories are:

· Overcoming the monster
· Rags to riches
· The Quest
· Voyage and return
· Comedy
· Tragedy
· Rebirth

But at heart, he tells us, all stories are about coming out of the darkness into the light. This is, I believe, another way of saying, 'being in trouble and getting out of it', or 'having conflict and dealing with it'.

The overcoming the monster story is as old as civilisation. A monster is threatening the safety of the village/country/world, and one hero has to beat it and save the day. We see this plot again and again in examples such as Jaws and Jurassic Park. But it’s also to be seen in less obvious in World War II stories where Hitler’s army is the ‘monster’, or in Westerns such as The Magnificent Seven or High Noon. I think that all the James Bond films always consist of this plot as some maniacal power-crazy despot plans to destroy the whole world, and one hero (old JB himself) saves the day against all the odds.

The thriller is usually also shaped by the overcoming the monster plot, as are many science fiction stories (Orson Welle’s War of the Worlds is a classic example), and of course Star Wars is a classic example.

Rags to Riches does what it says on the tin. Stories such as Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk are typical examples, as are the stories of Eliza Doolittle, David Copperfield and Oliver. Even the biblical story of Joseph is a Rags to Riches story, in essence. Modern examples include a film in the cinemas right now, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The Quest is of course a classic tale. From Homer’s Iliad to The Lord of the Rings and even Stephen Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, it’s a story which resonates deep within us. In this story the hero(es) need something, (to get home, to destroy the ring, to find the treasure), and the story follows their adventures as they try to do this. The main story question is: will he/she/they succeed? Of course there are trials along the way, obstacles to be overcome, and they keep the flow of the story going.

Examples of the Voyage and return plot include Alice in Wonderland and Goldilocks. But The Time Machine is also an example of this plot. Its central premise is that your protagonist travel out of their familiar, everyday normal surroundings into a new alien world. They have to cope with this new world until eventually after a thrilling escape, they return home. The Wizard of Oz, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, and Peter Pan provide further examples from children’s fiction. The classic adult version is Robinson Crusoe. Tom Hank’s film Castaway would be a modern example.

This plot also encompasses people leaving their own social milieu for a strange one, such as Gulliver’s Travels. Crocodile Dundee and Three Men and a Baby provide modern examples.

Stories fall into two distinct categories : those where the hero(ine) is transformed by his/her experiences and those where he/she isn’t. My own feeling is that those stories where they protagonist is transformed (providing a character arc, which I will write about in a future workshop), are the more satisfying.

In this book, comedy has a very specific meaning. It’s not simply any story which is funny (many Voyage and return stories are funny, but they’re not comedy). The heart of comedy is a conflict between two characters (or groups of characters). One represents life and liberation and truth, and the other, darkness and life-defying obsessions. In these stories the resolution depends on the ‘dark’ characters are forced to recognise what they’re doing and to change for the better. Something is discovered which transforms the situation. Comedy is typified by misunderstandings and mistaken identities. A lot of Shakespeare’s plays are Comedies in this sense.
Comedy is perhaps one of the more complex plots, and it’s proving difficult to provide a summary … suffice to say it’s extremely interesting and if you get the book this chapter would perhaps be of great interest.

Tragedy is also complex, but at heart, it’s a hero being tempted or impelled into a course of action which is some way forbidden. For a time the hero enjoys success, but things get out of control, and it eventually culminates in the hero’s destruction. Jekyll and Hyde is a classic example, as would be Phantom of the Opera.

We can see examples of the Rebirth stories in children’s stories such as Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. The heroine falls under a dark spell which traps them for a time, they endure physical or spiritual imprisonment. Then an act of redemption takes place, (usually an act by another person) and they are liberated into the light again. Dickens' A Christmas Carol is an adult example of this plot.


This, as you may imagine, is a whirlwind tour around a fascinating and complex subject. (And this is only the first half of the book; the second half speaks more about the structure of stories and our need for them). I have given myself hours of amusement trying to identify which plot characterises favourite books and films. (Some, of course, may have elements of more than one plot, particularly if there are sub-plots). But I think it’s important for us as writers because these are the plots which have stood the test of time. These are the stories which resonate with people, of all eras and all cultures.

Dare I mention the word 'archetype'?

[gp101]

Seven plots, seven deadly sins, seven days of the week, Seven Up... 7 is just a number used over and over for familiarity, thanks to the Bible, I'm sure (it has particular relevance, in the Bible, but I don't recall what that relevance is). For sure, it's good to know what type of plot you're working with, but to compare what all plots are/mean is a waste of time.

Analyze stories similar to yours and write from there. Forget the other plots. You're not writing them anyway.

[Evaine]

That's a very good summary of The Seven Basic Plots, by Christopher Booker, that Tracey gave.
I found a copy in the local library, fortunately for my bank balance.

I loved the idea that Beowulf and High Noon are the same basic plot, and the way he delves into the development of the modern novel and points out instances where they are unsatisfying because they didn't fulfill the expectations of the basic plots.