The Seven Basic Plots
Have you ever been reading a book and had that strange feeling of déjâ vu wash over you? Where you could almost exactly predict the ending and recognise some of the characters, having never read it before? That may be because there are a specific number of plot types that, supposedly, every book follows. According to Christopher Booker's 2004 book The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories , story-telling can be roughly summarised and categorised into seven specific structures. Each also follows common narrative patterns (such as the rule of 3 ) with a meta-plot to match. Of course, as with any rule there will always be exceptions, but w hile this theory has been criticised for being a little reductive, surely there is truth in the words that Booker took 34 years to craft and publish? The Seven Basic Plots - Explained Overcoming the Monster The protagonist * aims to defeat an evil force which threatens them or their homeland - James Bond ...