This is the theory that every story - whether it’s about Victorian England, aliens or unicorn-loving truckers - follows one of nine basic plots.
It’s been about for a while and can be pretty controversial, but whatever your take on it, it’s a fun exercise to figure out where your WIP fits in.
1) Overcoming the monster
This is one of the most common. There’s a monster (whether it be a Dragon, Jeff Bezos, or one of the muppets) that the Hero must defeat to protect their community.
A Cinderella type story in which the main character is missing something (love, money, etc.) and finds a way to gain it.
The hero embarks on a perilous journey to obtain a great prize (e.g. The Lord of the Rings, Wizard of Oz and even Finding Nemo).
A story which sends the protagonist to a strange land, from which they return changed (usually for the better) (e.g. Alice in Wonderland).
My personal favourite. A story made up of comedic events, involving confusion, misunderstanding and mistaken identity (e.g. Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Office).
This is essentially comedy’s mirror image. Your protagonist falls from prosperity to destruction, because of a cruel twist of fate or their own mistakes (Shakespeare had a talent for writing these).
This plot type has roots in religion, but most modern stories simply show a character changing their ways and becoming a better person. A Christmas Carol is a classic example of this one.
These next two weren’t previously included in the list, as they were very rare story types. However, in modern times, they are clearly far more popular.
Now one of the most common plots, a mystery involves a group of people coming together to figure out the truth of some horrendous event (e.g. Gravity Falls, Murder She Wrote, pretty much anything by Agatha Christie).
9) Rebellion against the one
Here, a hero rebels against a powerful organisation or entity that controls their entire world. This has become very popular in dystopian fiction (e.g. 1984).
So those are the 9(ish) basic plots! Which ones does your WIP fit into (if any)? And does it fit into more than one?
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