The Seven Basic Plots and how they work.
OK, so this subject is a little controversial, and many will argue the points made, but I thought I would include it, because when I was taught them, they made perfect sense and helped the whole class to identify with the type of story they were actually writing.
This is a really important thing to discover, probably even before you start to plot out your book, because knowing the type of story, and the general structure that they usually take will make the actual construction of your story, so much easier.
The theory goes that there are only ever seven basic plots for stories. 7 in the entire world! They say that any story you can think of will fall into at least one of these categories, though more often they are a mixture of two, three or even more.
The plots are
- Overcoming the Monster
- Rags to Riches
- The Quest
- Voyage and Return
- Rebirth
- Comedy (in which they have included Romance)
- Tragedy.
Now, lets look at them in more depth.
Over coming the monster. This may have you conjuring up visions of a snarling beast looming over a fair maiden who is swooning and screaming for her knight in shining armour to come and save her.
And while that’s fine, if your story is going that way, if you do have a physical monster that is terrorising villages, you do you, dude, but as a plot it’s much broader.
Monsters can take many forms, from a physical threat, a bad guy, an evil boss, and old enemy, an ex-partner or friend, or even something more symbolic like the badness of society or even mankind itself, an organisation, or a political party.
An overcoming the monster story, as with all of the plots, usually follows a formula, although it is easily moved around to make the story your own.
It starts with the creature itself tormenting and torturing its prey, so it could be the boss picking on the young, inexperienced intern, or a nasty teacher bullying the class.
Then comes the call, when the hero hears of this wickedness and comes to save the day. This could be someone in the office overhearing the nasty things said to the poor, sobbing intern, or one adventurous member of the class that decides enough is enough, this evil teacher must be stopped.
There will usually be a brief, first confrontation where the hero and the monster meet face to face for the first time.
There is often a period within the story that is referred to as the dream state, where everything seems to be going ok for our hero, this turns into a nightmare with another confrontation, which the hero shows every likelihood of losing.
And finally, victory, usually including a lesson of some kind which is designed to make the reader think about the moral of the story.
Rags to riches and comedy/romance will often be blended together. We will often see a small, insignificant individual who will step forward and become our hero. Like the nerdy best friend in a high school drama who turns out to be the perfect person for them all along.
Our unfortunate and reluctant hero will have been treated badly by those around them, family, friends, society and is often orphaned by at least one parent. This gives them some vulnerability and odds to overcome.
It is believed that Cinderella is the oldest rags to riches tale with thousands of known versions today, the oldest dating back to the 9th century.
The unfortunate hero is usually the youngest child, one that is shown during the story to be growing up and to mature.
There is usually a part of the story where there is some kind of crisis, where everything is going wrong, but in the end, everything will work itself out and change for the better.
This is often paired with romance because it’s a good formula, we as readers, like the thought of a humble hero being the one to get the love interest rather than the rich, arrogant rival.
Aladdin is a perfect example of both plots mixing together, an orphaned boy who steals to survive, getting his big break and meeting the girl of his dreams. But just when things seem to be coming up roses for Aladdin, he is knocked back down, having to find the guts and determination to keep fighting, clawing his way back to win the heart of the princess and defeat the bad guy.
The quest is often twinned with voyage and return.
No type of story is better known than the quest, some of our most beloved stories, like treasure island, lord of the rings and the holy grail are all a quest.
The story itself can take the form of a physical journey, where they hero is actually travelling from one place to another, or more of a mental journey, a voyage of self discovery if you will. Maybe one relating to their mental or physical help, self improvement or some other life goal.
When looking at the story the goals are usually pretty simple. Some fabulous treasure or mysterious mythical object, or they surround a homeward journey, be that a mental one of self discovery, back to the person you once was, or a physical one.
They often begin with the call to action, as many others do. A community in uproar, a lost treasure or even a missing person.
All quests begin with a sense of unease, a desperation which pushes them on, often the plot will also involve a time limit to make it feel tenser.
The hero will often have to leave their home and battle to find their way back, returning a better person than when they left.
These stories often involve companions of some kind who will travel with them or be picked up along the way and help them on their journey, their unique abilities making victory possible. This has a moral reason for happening, to show the reader than no one can triumph when they are alone or unsupported, trying to take on too much themselves, to not rely on others, or in the case of a more arrogant hero, thinking they don’t need help. There is no shame in allowing friends to offer a hand.
Sometimes the writer will pull a sneaky on their reader and have one of the companions actually work against the hero, instead being in cahoots with the enemy. This is a good way of involving a plot twist into the story, but it is one that has to be managed very carefully, it should not be obvious that they have been actively trying to cause trouble. It should come out of nowhere and completely blindside the reader, but, when they look back, there should be enough to make it true. It’s a hard one to pull off and it does require practice, but that’s no reason to avoid doing it if that’s how your story is worked.
Once the hero and companions have assembled, they will venture forth. Usually they will encounter their first scary or dramatic situation, entering unknown territory, facing a monster or even lack of resources or food. The possibilities in this, are endless.
Mystical intervention along the way is also a common theme, where our heroes will receive some much-needed help and advice which will save the day.
When the journey is almost over, when we think they will make it, comes the final ordeal. All is lost! Or so we think. But of course, the hero will overcome the odds and win the day.
A twist to this kind of story is the dark quest, and my personal favourite, where we see the dark, brooding anti-hero who seeks to destroy an object or person who is working on the side of good. just when it looks like darkness will overcome the light, he has his redemption.
I do love a sexy, anti-social man who needs kicking into shape, and I am usually just the girl to write them, but, enough about me, lets continue on to our last two plots.
Tragedy and rebirth are another two that are often partnered up for the sake of a story.
Tragedy comes in many forms, from the loss of a parent, a lover, a child, even a whole town or city, leaving the protagonist, our hero, as the only one left to deal with the situation.
They are obviously grieving, emotionally destroyed by the tragedy they have just dealt with, but they must soldier on.
Some stories just stick with the tragedy and refuse to have a happy ever after ending, which is fine, its your story and no one said it had to be a happy happy feel good book, but if you did want to give your hero something to strive for, some home, a light at the end of the tunnel, that’s where the rebirth plot is usually utilised.
We, as readers, love to see something good come out of a tragedy, we love to think that no matter how bad things get, there is always hope of something good just around the corner.
Rebirth stories are always popular. Think of a Christmas carol, with mean, skinflint Mr Scrooge meeting 3 ghosts who take him on a journey of self-discovery, where he will have to face up to the inevitable, if he continues as he is, he will die alone and unmourned by anyone.
He learns the error of his ways and wakes the next morning as a changed man, determined to do better for everyone around him.
So, there you have the 7 basic plots, and as I said before, although others may disagree, I believe they are useful to know and perhaps look at in more depth, especially if you have an idea for a book but are unsure on how to structure it.
Identify the type or types of story it is and then study the formula, fit it all together and get writing.
I once did an article explaining how the 7 basic plots all managed to fit into my book, Two Minutes to Midnight, before I even knew what they were. If you are interested in reading this article, let me know in the comments or DM me and ill get it up online for you all.
That’s all for today, so ill say blessed be and happy writing.
