.jpg)
Christopher Booker, author of The 7 basic
plots, distills all of storytelling to 7 basic archetypes that make
up all of storytelling throughout history.
1
Overcoming the Monster
2
Rags to Riches
3
The Quest
4
Voyage and Return
5
Comedy
6
Tragedy
7
Rebirth
Overcoming the Monster
The hero must destroy the monster
to restore balance to the world. In the real world, this story appeals to
readers who are overcoming an addiction, fighting off a pervvy boss, debt,
beating an illness or anything else that requires something to be defeated for
the hero (your customer) to win.
Rags to Riches
A modest and moral but downtrodden character achieves a happy
ending when their natural talents are displayed to the world at large. In the
real world, this theme appeals to anyone with an undeniably incredible talent
who wants to break through and be successful. This could apply to
photographers, musicians, artists, and yes even bloggers.
The Quest
The hero, often accompanied by
sidekicks, travels in search of a priceless treasure and must defeat evil and
overcome powerful odds, and ends when he gets both the treasure and the
girl. The Odyssey is a classic example of this kind of story.
Often "Quest" stories
make our hero(s) encounter a variety of challenges that are all seemingly
unrelated. In the real world, this is very much the story of every beginning
entrepreneurial journey.
Voyage and Return
Stories of normal protagonists
who are suddenly thrust into strange and alien worlds and must make their way
back to normal life once more. Examples of this are Alice in Wonderland, or
Cast Away.
Comedy
Not in the "Haha"
that's funny kind of way, but more in the Shakespeare kind of way. The
plot of a comedy involves some kind of confusion that must be resolved before
the hero and heroine can be united in love.
Tragedy
As a rule, the consequences of
human overreaching and egotism. Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet
etc... Stories from this category are usually very self evident.
Rebirth
This story archetype almost
always has a threatening shadow that seems nearly victorious until a sequence
of fortuitous (or even miraculous) events lead to redemption and rebirth, and
the restoration of a happier world. The best example of this is "A
Christmas Carol" where Scrooge much change his ways in order to not be
hated and have a much better impact on the world around him.
Do you agree with this categorization?
I've just tried (but failed) to slot my novels into any one of these categories. Maybe we use aspects of several different categories in our stories?
ReplyDeleteMaybe mixing themes is the new normal.
ReplyDeleteIn my WIP, the heroine overcomes the monster. The hero has a rebirth.
ReplyDeleteI think this might be the case of "sometimes the blue vase is just a blue vase" or whatever it's called. I think creativity is more expansive than this list and I think we also combine some to create new ones. But it's definitely a good start!
ReplyDeleteI was trying to fit these themes into romance as well.
ReplyDeleteI thought maybe the rebirth?
I think I need to try slotting mine into specific ones like Paula did. It will be interesting to see if they fit.
I struggled to place my wip in any of these categories. I felt the story covered two or three of them.
ReplyDelete