PAGES PROMOTIONS, LLC
  • Home
    • Contact
    • Our Sacred Text Philosophy
    • Terms & Conditions & Privacy Policy
  • Editorial, Book Design Services
    • Past Project Portfolio
    • Reviews & Testimonials
  • Marketing Services
    • Indie Reads TV & Festival Replays >
      • 2023 Winter Virtual Festival >
        • 2023 Event Replays
        • 2023 Virtual Festival Yearbook
        • 2023 Virtual Festival Witness Survey
      • Indie Reads Aloud Podcast Season One
      • Indie Reads Aloud Podcast Season Two
      • 2021 Regatta Race Leg Replays
      • 2021 Winter Festival Replays
      • 2020 Autumn Festival Replays
      • 2020 Summer Festival Replays
      • 2019 Summer Book Fest Photo Album
      • TV Season One Episode Archive
      • TV Season Two Episode Archive
  • The Blog Thingy
    • Resources >
      • R.L. Fink Launch Event
      • Witch'd Launch Event
  • Community Service Projects
    • By The Seat of Our Pants: Madmess
    • By The Seat of Our Pants: Chaos
    • 2023 The Quire Omnibus
  • Writing Craft Mentoring
  • February 2024 Virtual Festival Author Sign Up
    • 2024 Author Reading Schedule
    • 2024 Seance Game
    • 2024 Wax Seal Scroll

The Blog Thingy...
​Where Emotion and Information are Dispensed Inconsistently... Sometimes.

Twenty Master Plots

12/19/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Throughout all of literature, there are only twenty major plots.  Don't believe me?  Read this list and then, the next time you read a book or watch a film, you'll immediately be able to make the connection... no matter the time it was written, or the author!  Of course, there are minor differences in all writing - but these are the foundations where everyone begins.
The Quest
  • The protagonist’s search for a person, place or thing, tangible or intangible.
The Adventure
  • An action plot, the plot of the body that focuses on the journey itself.
The Pursuit
  • The literary version of hide and seek; one person chases another.
The Rescue
  • The hero searches for something or someone; this plot relies heavily on the antagonist.
The Escape
  • A physical plot that concentrates its energy on the mechanics of capture and escape; and the escape is literal – the hero must get away from where and whom has confined him.
The Revenge
  • In this plot, there is a clear retaliation by the hero against the villain for a real or imagined injury; it should reach your reader on an emotional level.
The Riddle or Mystery
  • A paradox that begs a solution that focuses on events that must be evaluated and interpreted, although things are not what they appear on the surface.  Clues lead to the answer, and the answer is usually in plain sight, though overlooked due to distractions.
Rivalry
  • Two people have the same goal and each has their own motivation; and each usually assume they will win due to their superiority in some way.
The Underdog
  • The hero is faced with a disadvantage and is faced with overwhelming odds toward achieving the goal; and somehow, he finds a way, although the way is often difficult.
Temptation
  • A story of the frailty of human nature; often with religious overtones.
Metamorphosis
  • Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures; this is a story about change, both physical and emotional, and usually the physical change is the impetus for the emotional change.
Transformation
  • The process of change in the hero as he goes through life; moving from one significant character change to another.
Maturation
  • A story of growing up; it’s an optimistic plot with lessons to be learned and in the end, the hero is better for the challenge and learning.
Love
  • Often a story of frustration, confusion, misunderstanding, mistaken identities, agony, torture... something usually gets in the way and the payoff is that the love endures and wins in the end.
Forbidden Love
  • A love affair that violates some social taboo; the lovers usually pay for their “folly” with their lives.
Sacrifice
  • The characters sacrifice themselves for an ideal; they often subscribe to the belief that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the individual.
Discovery
  • This plot dedicates itself more to the pursuit of learning about the self than uncovering a secret about society.  This plot is about people and their quest to understand who they are and how they fit in, rather than chasing buried treasure (although that can be part of it).
Wretched Excess
  • This plot can happen to characters of every kind, and in every situation. The tension inherent in this plot comes from convincing the readers that whatever the excess, it could happen to them, too.
Ascension; This plot deals with the rise of the hero.  Descension; This plot deals with the fall of the hero.
  • In these last two plots, the hero is magnetic, everyone and everything relates to him.  They tend to suffer from an over-blown ego, and are involved in a struggle that creates a vortex that sucks everyone else in the story into it.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Welcome 

    You'll find some interesting stuff here... some Op Eds, some Information, Book Reviews, and More.  Poke around the categories and see what ruffles your feathers... in a good way!

    Archives

    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018

    Categories

    All
    2022 Indie Reads Challenge
    Author Friend Thingies
    Author Interview Thingies
    Book Festival Thingies
    Book Review Thingies
    Chapter Previews
    Emotional Thingies
    Featured Indie Authors
    Indie Reads Aloud Podcast
    Indie Reads Aloud Radio Podcast
    Things That Make Life Worth Living
    Writing Craft Thingies

    RSS Feed

(c) 2021-2023 Diana Kathryn Plopa      Pages Promotions, LLC     All Rights Reserved
Pages Promotions, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Pages Promotions, LLC also participates in the following affiliate programs: Book Cave. Other links may include affiliate codes that afford the site owner a small commission at no additional cost to the buyer.  We truly appreciate your help in supporting this website. We only post affiliate links for products that we use and recommend ourselves.
  • Home
    • Contact
    • Our Sacred Text Philosophy
    • Terms & Conditions & Privacy Policy
  • Editorial, Book Design Services
    • Past Project Portfolio
    • Reviews & Testimonials
  • Marketing Services
    • Indie Reads TV & Festival Replays >
      • 2023 Winter Virtual Festival >
        • 2023 Event Replays
        • 2023 Virtual Festival Yearbook
        • 2023 Virtual Festival Witness Survey
      • Indie Reads Aloud Podcast Season One
      • Indie Reads Aloud Podcast Season Two
      • 2021 Regatta Race Leg Replays
      • 2021 Winter Festival Replays
      • 2020 Autumn Festival Replays
      • 2020 Summer Festival Replays
      • 2019 Summer Book Fest Photo Album
      • TV Season One Episode Archive
      • TV Season Two Episode Archive
  • The Blog Thingy
    • Resources >
      • R.L. Fink Launch Event
      • Witch'd Launch Event
  • Community Service Projects
    • By The Seat of Our Pants: Madmess
    • By The Seat of Our Pants: Chaos
    • 2023 The Quire Omnibus
  • Writing Craft Mentoring
  • February 2024 Virtual Festival Author Sign Up
    • 2024 Author Reading Schedule
    • 2024 Seance Game
    • 2024 Wax Seal Scroll