PLOT
The Plot is the “broomstick” that drives people to continue reading
a book full of antidotes, because no matter how witty, citizens still crave a
plot. There are theories that there is only seven different plots in story
telling. Writers can argue this point forever. Some claim there are only 3,
happy ending, unhappy ending and literary ending. Some claim there are as many
as 36.
I go to Christopher
Booker's The Seven Basic Plots that is a very LONG BOOK, so I will
summarize. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great book that gets a bit repetitive at
times, but if you can slog through the material, you're rewarded with a good
understanding of the seven basic plots. You can also get a good dose of Jungian
psychology to boot. Booker likes to talk about the symbolism of the masculine
and feminine aspects of a character.
Here are
Booker's seven plots:
1. Overcoming the Monster
Hero
learns of a great evil threatening the land, and sets out to destroy it.
2.
Rags to Riches
Surrounded
by dark forces that suppress and ridicule him, the Hero slowly blossoms into a
mature figure that ultimately gets riches, a kingdom, and the perfect mate.
3.
The Quest
Hero
learns of a great treasure (a Maguffin) that he desperately wants to find, and
sets out to find it, often with companions.
4.
Voyage and Return
Hero
heads off into a magic land with crazy rules, ultimately triumphs over the
madness and returns home far more mature than when he set out.
5.
Comedy or Romance
Hero
and Heroine are destined to get together, but a dark force is preventing them
from doing so; the story conspires to make the dark force repent, and suddenly
the Hero and Heroine are free to get together. This is part of a cascade of
effects that shows everyone for who they really are, and allows two or more
other relationships to correctly form.
6.
Tragedy
The
flip side of the Overcoming the Monster plot. Our protagonist character
is the Villain, but we get to watch him slowly spiral down into darkness before
he's finally defeated, freeing the land from his evil influence.
7.
Rebirth
As
with the Tragedy plot, but our protagonist manages to realize his error
before it's too late, and does a heel face turn to avoid inevitable defeat.
There is
talk that in Alice Sebold’s novel “The Lovely Bones” a new plot line was
created for the first time in recent history. In deconstructing the novel, it
really does not fit into any of the 7 blot points, which is one of the reasons
readers were so drawn to it (the movie was horrible adaption, so read the book
if you have not yet done so).
Your
assignment:
Take 3 of
your favorite books (or movies) and find which of the 7 plot points they fit in
to.
Write a
story using this formula: A group of
people on a road trip decide to make a stop at an old, abandoned carnival that
they pass. When strange things start happening they soon realize that there is
something very odd about this carnival.
500
words! Have fun (and you can totally
replace carnival with any thing else you want, my mind just naturally goes
there).
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