: "There are considered to be only seven or so actual plots" - is this true? I saw this in another answer there are considered to be only seven or so actual plots anyway Is this true?

Vote Up Vote Down

This site has lists of 3,7,20, and 36 respectively
www.ipl.org/div/farq/plotFARQ.html

I will post the list of 7 here:

"7 basic plots as remembered from second grade by IPL volunteer librarian Jessamyn West:

[wo]man vs. nature
[wo]man vs. [wo]man
[wo]man vs. the environment
[wo]man vs. machines/technology
[wo]man vs. the supernatural
[wo]man vs. self
[wo]man vs. god/religion"

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

When I took an SF writing class from Joe Haldeman, he said there was only one basic plot: Trouble.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

It is true to a point. As you suggest, they are generalized form encapsulations of conflict. In other words, they are archetypes. Similarly, you will hear folks say there are only 32 plots at times, too. The number varies. Often one will be more popular than others for a while.

Understanding them can be helpful at times if you're studying story and story story structure.

Wikipedia has a nice summary of the seven basic plots. The resources and external links at the bottom might lead to other helpful articles. I didn't follow them.

(0)