Poll: every plot can be simplified to one of 7, or something like that

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bl4ckh4wk64

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Jun 11, 2010
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heavymedicombo said:
Aby_Z said:
7? No, 2.

1) Shit happens.
2) Shit doesn't happen.

That covers just about everything...
What plot has nothing happen?
The House on Mango Street, Rain of Gold, Whirligig. 3 of the worst books I have ever read.
 

spartan231490

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Jan 14, 2010
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Cuddly Razor said:
Christopher Booker's 7 basic plots:

- Overcoming the monster
- Rags to riches
- The quest
- Voyage and return
- Comedy
- Tragedy
- Rebirth

Understand what you're talking about before creating a thread next time...google it.

<spoiler=Might as well add this I can help prevent the creation of other irritating threads>
3 plots.
Norman Friedman Form and Meaning in Fiction
- Plots of fortune
- Plots of character
- Plots of thought

Tsvetan Todorov's 4 stages of narrative development
- Equilibrium
- Disruption to the equilibrium
- Development of the disruption
- New equilibrium

Vladimir Propp's 8 characters.
- The hero
- The villain
- The princess
- Her father
- The dispatcher
- The helper
- The donor
- The false hero
don't be a jerk. If all i wanted was to know, i could have googled it, in fact, i did. but i also wanted to see what the escapist thought about it. Oh and you missed one, the man vs X, x being man, or nature, or technology, or environment or ect. go troll someone who cares weather you think they, "know what they're talking about."
 

zfactor

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Well, you can reduce everything down to super basic components (like a generic plot, or molecules into atoms into quarks), but what's the point when there are so many variations and combos and different means of storytelling that you can use to keep things interesting?
 

Diddy_Mao

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I would narrow it down to 2 plots.

Protagonist overcomes adversity.
and
Adversity overcomes protagonist

That's it, I have yet to read a book, see a movie, play a game or watch a TV show that isn't a variation on one of those two themes.
 

Zannah

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Jan 27, 2010
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I've heard about those basic 7 plot thingies. Luckily, with my significant other (and soon to be husband, if german authorities weren't so stuck up their own arses), being a rather capable novelist, I can also assure you, that originality outside those guidelines is well possible :)
 

Kpt._Rob

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Apr 22, 2009
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I've heard people make the case that there are only 7 plots, and it certainly can be argued, though personally I'd have to disagree with it. In order to pull it off you have to stretch the classification of certain narrative elements big time in order to make them comparative to the archetypes. You end up in a semantic mess, and in making the argument you begin to appear disingenuous because you have to stretch so many definitions to make it work. When I hear people make the argument, sometimes it gets to a point at which I feel like instead of saying that there are 7 plots, they should say that there is only one plot (something happens).

Besides, I'm of the opinion that anything can be done with enough effort, especially in the literary world. And if you've read some of the short stories that modern authors put out, they break just about any literary rule you can think of anyways.
 

Twilight_guy

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Nov 24, 2008
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Sure I believe it. If we boil it down to the level where we're working with abstract concepts then yes they are very few types of stories. Of course that boils out all the love and excitement so we are left with a flimsy skeleton. It's really the details that make the story even if it can be examined at a basic root.
Aby_Z said:
7? No, 2.

1) Shit happens.
2) Shit doesn't happen.

That covers just about everything...
When shit doesn't happen you don't have a story, you just have a long boring bit of exposition.
 

JPH330

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Jan 31, 2010
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Daffy F said:
Aby_Z said:
7? No, 2.

1) Shit happens.
2) Shit doesn't happen.

That covers just about everything...
Actually it's three.
3)A bit of both.
Uh... I'm pretty sure that if shit happens, that automatically means that shit doesn't not happen.
 

JPH330

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Jan 31, 2010
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heavymedicombo said:
EDIT: I dont think the plot of l4d is covered. you know, just trying to survive with no real goal.
Well that's the thing, L4D didn't have a plot. It was just stuff happening. There was no climax, no rising action or falling action, you just keep going.

Or, I suppose you could consider it the "return" part of "voyage and return." They're in this land filled with dangerous creatures, and they're trying to escape and find their way to safety.
 

teisjm

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taken from a link posted somewhere further up.
This (or somethign simmilar) should really be in the OP though

(1) Overcoming the Monster ? Stories like Beowulf, ?Little Red Riding Hood?, Jaws, and many of the James Bond films, where a hero must defeat a monster and restore order to a world that has been threatened by the monster?s presence.

(2) Rags to Riches ? These stories feature modest, generally virtuous but downtrodden characters, who achieve a happy ending when their special talents or true beauty is revealed to the world at large. Includes any number of classics such as ?Cinderella?, David Copperfield, and the Horatio Alger novels.

(3) The Quest ? A hero, often accompanied by sidekicks, travels in search of a priceless treasure and fights against evil and overpowering odds, and ends when he gets both the treasure and the girl. The Odyssey is a classic example of this kind of story.

(4) Voyage and Return ? Alice in Wonderland, Robinson Crusoe on his desert island, other stories of normal protagonists who are suddenly thrust into strange and alien worlds and must make their way back to normal life once more.

(5) Comedy ? Not always synonymous with humour. Instead, the plot of a comedy involves some kind of confusion that must be resolved before the hero and heroine can be united in love. Think of Shakespeare?s comedies, The Marriage of Figaro, the plays of Oscar Wilde and Gilbert and Sullivan, and even War and Peace.

(6) Tragedy ? As a rule, the terrible consequences of human overreaching and egotism. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Julius Caesar, Anna Karenina?this category is usually self-evident.

(7) Rebirth ? The stories of Ebeneezer Scrooge and Mary Lennox would fall into this basic plot type, which focuses on 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

I've seen tons of movies not resembling anything like this.
The dialouge usually consisted of hardly anything but moaning, and pleasurefull screaming.
 

dududf

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SimuLord said:
Especially if it's the plot of a German porn film.
I now have to clean up my desk, as I was drinking water, and sprayed it out in laughter as I scrolled down.
 

spartan231490

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teisjm said:
taken from a link posted somewhere further up.
This (or somethign simmilar) should really be in the OP though

(1) Overcoming the Monster ? Stories like Beowulf, ?Little Red Riding Hood?, Jaws, and many of the James Bond films, where a hero must defeat a monster and restore order to a world that has been threatened by the monster?s presence.

(2) Rags to Riches ? These stories feature modest, generally virtuous but downtrodden characters, who achieve a happy ending when their special talents or true beauty is revealed to the world at large. Includes any number of classics such as ?Cinderella?, David Copperfield, and the Horatio Alger novels.

(3) The Quest ? A hero, often accompanied by sidekicks, travels in search of a priceless treasure and fights against evil and overpowering odds, and ends when he gets both the treasure and the girl. The Odyssey is a classic example of this kind of story.

(4) Voyage and Return ? Alice in Wonderland, Robinson Crusoe on his desert island, other stories of normal protagonists who are suddenly thrust into strange and alien worlds and must make their way back to normal life once more.

(5) Comedy ? Not always synonymous with humour. Instead, the plot of a comedy involves some kind of confusion that must be resolved before the hero and heroine can be united in love. Think of Shakespeare?s comedies, The Marriage of Figaro, the plays of Oscar Wilde and Gilbert and Sullivan, and even War and Peace.

(6) Tragedy ? As a rule, the terrible consequences of human overreaching and egotism. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Julius Caesar, Anna Karenina?this category is usually self-evident.

(7) Rebirth ? The stories of Ebeneezer Scrooge and Mary Lennox would fall into this basic plot type, which focuses on 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

I've seen tons of movies not resembling anything like this.
The dialouge usually consisted of hardly anything but moaning, and pleasurefull screaming.
I thought about putting it in with an edit, but there are 2 different 7 plot break downs, a four plot break down, a 3 plot breakdown, and a 20 plot breakdown, way too much to put in there.
 

teisjm

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Mar 3, 2009
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spartan231490 said:
teisjm said:
taken from a link posted somewhere further up.
This (or somethign simmilar) should really be in the OP though

(1) Overcoming the Monster ? Stories like Beowulf, ?Little Red Riding Hood?, Jaws, and many of the James Bond films, where a hero must defeat a monster and restore order to a world that has been threatened by the monster?s presence.

(2) Rags to Riches ? These stories feature modest, generally virtuous but downtrodden characters, who achieve a happy ending when their special talents or true beauty is revealed to the world at large. Includes any number of classics such as ?Cinderella?, David Copperfield, and the Horatio Alger novels.

(3) The Quest ? A hero, often accompanied by sidekicks, travels in search of a priceless treasure and fights against evil and overpowering odds, and ends when he gets both the treasure and the girl. The Odyssey is a classic example of this kind of story.

(4) Voyage and Return ? Alice in Wonderland, Robinson Crusoe on his desert island, other stories of normal protagonists who are suddenly thrust into strange and alien worlds and must make their way back to normal life once more.

(5) Comedy ? Not always synonymous with humour. Instead, the plot of a comedy involves some kind of confusion that must be resolved before the hero and heroine can be united in love. Think of Shakespeare?s comedies, The Marriage of Figaro, the plays of Oscar Wilde and Gilbert and Sullivan, and even War and Peace.

(6) Tragedy ? As a rule, the terrible consequences of human overreaching and egotism. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Julius Caesar, Anna Karenina?this category is usually self-evident.

(7) Rebirth ? The stories of Ebeneezer Scrooge and Mary Lennox would fall into this basic plot type, which focuses on 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

I've seen tons of movies not resembling anything like this.
The dialouge usually consisted of hardly anything but moaning, and pleasurefull screaming.
I thought about putting it in with an edit, but there are 2 different 7 plot break downs, a four plot break down, a 3 plot breakdown, and a 20 plot breakdown, way too much to put in there.
Just put em in spoiler tags, a thread is so muh better, when teh info needed is in teh OP, so everyone doesn't have to look it up by themselves
 

thylasos

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Aug 12, 2009
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Certainly there are archetypal stories which are common to most of mankind and many creative narratives use a similar basis, through cultural absorption or the Jungian "collective unconscious".