Christopher Bookers plots

[Ambriel]

Is there anyone that disagrees with the 7 basic plots in fiction idea? If so I would be interested in learning about others.

 

[Ambriel]

Also, if there aren't any other plot lines, does anyone have any information on which one would be the least common.

 

[RX-79G]

There's also Tobias' 20 Master Plots, though I'm sure they overlap by focusing on slightly different aspects.

Really, if you want to write outside of any of these, write a story that isn't funny or sad and has no real resolution or theme. All of these stories contain some sort of arc to a destination. Provide none and you are probably stepping outside.

The other way to do things would be to use a conventional plot in a highly unconventional way. In 2001, there really isn't a normal protagonist. The human race is the protagonist and it is a kind of rags to riches for humanity. Or an upside down arc, where the character starts out in action and the climax is the most sedate part, with a resolution in chaos.

 

[Steven Sorrels]

Or an upside down arc, where the character starts out in action and the climax is the most sedate part, with a resolution in chaos.

That would be weeeiiirrd.

I like it!

 

[LittleStar]

In general I don't like statements like is. Sure if you look hard enough, or generalise enough, you can make any plot fit into the archetypes. So while they might not be wrong they certainly arent all right, in my opinion.

One could write a romance story with no elements of the 7plots, but analysis could point out that getting the love of your life is a rags to riches story or a quest/journey, and I call bull. With enough time i could find a strong link between the little mermaid and a christmas carol (or insert two random titles) If i generalised enough.
What about the hobbit? Rags to riches? Quest? Tradgedy? Comedy? Return from voyage?

I think sweeping generalisations like this are a very simplified way to classify things that don't need to be classified and i struggle to put into words why I disagree with things like this so much... Uh, but I do

It's the same reason I challenge the vast majority of the psychoanalysis fields I think, there are so many variables that get swept under the rug to make the individual/story fit neatly into a pigeon hole, when the reality is every person and every story has a hundred different layers that make up who or what they are.
Sure some of these plots will be classic rags to riches and quest narratives, but back to my romance example above, I don't find the 'quest for love' the same as the 'quest to slay the dragon'.

 

[Montero]

Storytelling is by nature selective - you emphasise the bits that are fun. Most of a person's/character's life would not appear in a story. It might be an interesting writing exercise to take a chain of say ten events and write the character's life to emphasise the romance, the quest, the war..... Same life, different stories.
Coupling - TV series about a group of friends (somewhat dysfunctional) occasionally has an episode where each scene is re-viewed through the viewpoint of each character. One had a scene about shopping for a sofa - but you got to see the scene from the different viewpoints, including the drama queen who had this sound track of "me, me, look at me" running in the background as she swooped in and fiddled with the cushions. Brilliant. (Hard to do in a book.)

 

[Brian G Turner]

Also, if there aren't any other plot lines, does anyone have any information on which one would be the least common.

If you're worried about being original, you're chasing the wrong horse. Plot classifications are extremely generalised, and allude more to patterns than actual stories. Don't worry about them.

 

[RX-79G]

I think sweeping generalisations like this are a very simplified way to classify things that don't need to be classified and i struggle to put into words why I disagree with things like this so much... Uh, but I do

I don't think anyone "needs" plots to be classified. This isn't critical analysis, it is a writing tool that allows us to see the context of what we are writing.

It isn't that you can't write a story outside of the classic plots, but if you really try to do so you are likely to write something unsatisfying to read. You can serve a three course meal consisting of a salad followed by two more salads, and it won't be a great meal - no matter how good each course is. By all means, write a story that resolves nothing. Or write a comedy that stops being funny halfway through and documents genocide for the last 200 pages. The plot models suggest that people won't enjoy reading either of these.

The plot models are like door hinges - there are many ways of making hinges, and we know about all of them by now. If you think you can invent a new hinge after 6000 years of maturation, you might be fooling yourself.

 

[Ambriel]

Thanks for your input everyone. You've shown me that I don't need to worry about the plot line as much as the originality of the characters and the story.