Hi Andrea,

After reading the following review on this very site (thanks Darkstar) I am currently reading ‘The Seven Basic Plots', by Chris Booker:


The Seven Basic Plots, by Chris Booker


I'm only 100 pages into the 600, so I can't tell you if I agree with there only being seven basic plots. Even so, it has made some very interesting points about how plots are traditionally created - and how these play on basic human desires and psychology. He demonstrates some intriguing similarities in stories which would seem completely unrelated. For example, the basic plot structure of The Castle, by Kafka, and Puss-In-Boots is very similar - believe it or not! The same is true for the ancient Nordic legend of Beowulf and the Jaws films (bit more obvious that one I suppose).

In reading this book, I'm certainly starting to get a feel for how similar underlying plots can be used in a variety of very different ways; with completely different styles, settings and characters. In later chapters Booker apparently goes on to describe how in the last 100 years of so these plot types are increasingly broken, or twisted into something different - but I'm not even near that bit yet. I'm impressed so far - even if I'm not entirely convinced yet that there really are only basic seven plots.

Sam

Thanks for all the suggestions, and I will check them out.

Sam, I've read the Christopher Booker and I found it fascinating - long-winded and repetitious sometimes, but it clarified my ideas about the purpose of plot (and indeed, Why We Tell Stories).

Now I understand the purpose, I'm trying to remember the nuts and bolts of actually constructing a plot

Without wanting to get too deep about this, I think there can also be a psychological angle to the difficulty people have with plots. This is the strong reluctance to impose structure on a story, stemming from a strong belief that life just happens – that it can even be morally wrong, if not bordering on evil, to force the flow of life into an artificial shape. And of course there is truth in this where life is concerned; but the point is, that a story fundamentally is about how life could or ought to be, not how it is.

Without wanting to get my head bitten off here, I would say that on the whole women find plots harder to deal with than men. Which could of course be a reflection of 'real life', where to an extent women tend to prefer the natural, organic, spontaneous aspects to life, while men tend to try to impose structure – plans, schemes, trips, scams, etc – on to it. I see a lot of manuscripts and I have to say that on the whole women writers are better at the close-in stuff – characterisation, dialogue and scene-building – but struggle with story structure and plot. With male writers, it's just about the opposite.

Whatever the general truths here, I would say that every writer, if he or she wants to be an effective writer, first has to be open to seeing where his or her personal psychological block lies. And part of that cognition must involve the understanding that such a block will be fiercely protected by oneself from 'attack' or exposure. In my experience, the only force strong enough to allow this perception and then provide the courage to remove the block, is the desire to be the best writer one can possibly be and not be content to remain a blocked promise.

Terry

Ideally, and I stress the word, it is wholly unnecessary to have someone else tell you how to structure a plot. if you can form a rough concept, an idea of what constitutes the theme of the story, the plot should unravel as you write.
Okay, I know that the old maxim (that a good story writes itself) is entirely alien to most authors, but the truth is it can (and does) so long as you are comfortable with the context of the story. If you write within your own experience, and have a full overview of the context in which the story is set, the framework and the flesh of the story will follow. What tends to prevent stories developing is the inability to know what is possible, what is plausible and what realistically can be projected from a given situation.
To be an ex-police detective writing crime based thrillers is paradise - who would know better the culture and the context of the underworld, its mores and manners and the way it works. Would he have a problem developing a plot if he was forced to write in the style and genre of Isac Asimov - you betcha!

Plots are what you can contrive through your imagination and experience - the more you have of each the better - and the more world- wise you are the better they are developed.

C.B. Barrie

PS Apologies if it seems dogmatic - it's just one mans opinion!