Are there other standard plot lines like the Hero's Journey?
I’m familiar with Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey he outlined. Are there more standard plot lines that have been named?
I’m reading a book now that has a hardened – for want of a better word – who softens.
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I remembered there are supposedly seven basic plots but I had to look up what they are:
“What Are The Seven Basic Plots?
Overcoming The Monster. Your protagonist must battle a monster (or a monstrous force) that threatens, probably, more than just your protagonist’s survival in scope and scale. ...
Voyage And Return. ...
Rags To Riches. ...
The Quest. ...
Comedy. ...
Tragedy. ...
Rebirth.”
If you Google “7 basic plots” you can get further descriptions.
There is also
– stuck in washing mashine
– landlord wants to collect rent
– handyman is coming to repair appliance
– and the classic pizza delivery.
As a side note, I got to interview Joseph Campbell during his last year of teaching for a course I was trying to get in. I didn’t make the cut – it was for seniors – but it is still a thrilling memory. I heard him speak a few times too; he was a magician.
@janbb Thank you for pointing me to 7 basic plots. That information is exactly what I’m looking for. The book I’m reading now is Overcoming The Monster. That’s very cool about Joseph Campbell.
I’ve seen lists and expansions of six basic plots, twelve basic plots, five basic plots, twenty basic plots. I have a two-volume copy of the classic Masterplots. And then there’s a wonderland of books on this and related subjects. I took a shopping bag full of them to a writers’ club meeting and left them there.
Consider The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, by Christopher Vogler, based on Campbell’s monomyth and oriented to writers; or something by James Bonnet or James Scott Bell. There is in fact a ton of literature on this subject.
Not all of it is equally valuable, of course: I know of at least one writer who wrote a single novel and then wrote a book about plotting. Now she gives plot development workshops.
@Hawaii_Jake, is there a word missing from the last sentence of your details?
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