the story of your life

I write resources for students of literature and creative writing. This week I have been looking at plot structures, and it occurred to me it might be fun to share some of the ideas with you. According to Christopher Booker (yes, that is his name) there are only 7 basic story plots:

1. Overcoming the Monster

2. Rags to Riches

3. The Quest

4. Voyage and Return

5. Rebirth

6. Comedy

7. Tragedy

You can read about his ideas and other ways story plots have been mapped here.

Which plot would your life be? ‘Rags to Riches?’?‘The Quest'? Maybe ‘Overcoming the Monster’?

Which would you like it to be?

Here are 5 of the plots found in well-known stories - these are written for children but you can add your own X-rated details I am sure. For comedy and tragedy - just open the complete works of Shakespeare…

1. OVERCOMING THE MONSTER

The main character sets out to defeat an evil force that threatens them or their homeland.

Examples: Dracula, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Shrek

Medusa is vanquished

The Story of Perseus

Long ago, in ancient Greece, there lived a beautiful woman named Medusa. Medusa was proud of her looks and would boast about them all the time. This angered the goddess Athena who transformed Medusa into a hideous monster. Medusa’s hair changed into living snakes, her body became a snake and her appearance was so shocking that anybody who saw her would instantly turn into stone.

Nearby was the island of Serifos. One day Polydectes, the king, held a huge banquet. It was expected that all of his guests would bring gifts and Polydectes had asked that these gifts would be horses. Perseus, a young islander, had no horse to give. He asked the king to name any other gift and he would gladly give it. Polydectes replied that he wanted the head of Medusa.

Perseus knew that he would need help for this task and sought out the help of the Graeae. The Graeae were three ancient women who had been born old. They shared one tooth and one eye between them.

As they passed the eye from one to another, Perseus snatched it from them. He would return the eye if they helped him in his quest. The sisters led him to the goddess Hera’s orchard. Here,Perseus met the Hesperides, magical nymphs who looked after the trees in the orchard. He received a bag that could fit anything put in it, winged sandals, an unbreakable sword, a cap of invisibility and a shield.

Perseus then travelled to Medusa’s cave and found the Gorgon asleep. He knew that looking directly at the Gorgon would turn him to stone so instead he looked at her reflection in his shield. He safely approached the monster and cut off her head.

Serifos was now free of the Medusa!

2. RAGS TO RICHES

The main character, who is poor, rises to success, gaining things like wealth or power before losing it all. They then gain it back.

Examples: Aladdin, The Prince and the Pauper, Jack and the Beanstalk

The Story of Cinderella

Long ago, a wealthy widower married a woman who was as vain and proud as she was selfish and mean. Whilst the man’s daughter was kind and beautiful, his wife’s daughters were nasty and ill-tempered.

The girl was forced by her stepsisters to work night and day doing chore after chore. Each day, after finishing her tasks,she would curl up exhausted near the fireplace to keep warm. When she rose the next day, she was always covered in cinders and this soon earned her the name “Cinderella” from her mocking stepsisters.

One day, the kingdom’s prince invited all of the young ladies in the land to a royal ball as he wanted to choose a wife. Cinderella’s stepsisters spent hours gleefully planning for the ball and wasted no chance of taunting Cinderella, telling her that maids were not invited.

The sisters left for the ball and Cinderella cried out in despair. At that moment a strange woman appeared; this was her Fairy Godmother! The Fairy Godmother began to use her magical powers to aid Cinderella. A pumpkin was turned into a golden carriage, mice became horses, a rat a coachman and lizards became footmen. Cinderella’s rags were transformed into a beautiful gown. Cinderella was warned that this spell would wear off at midnight.

When Cinderella arrived at the ball, the entire court was entranced but none more so than the Prince. Cinderella danced with the Prince and was enchanted, losing track of time. As the chimes of midnight began to ring out, Cinderella remembered her Fairy Godmother’s warning and fled before the spell could wear off. In her hurry, she left one glass slipper behind. The Prince chased after her but was not quick enough. At the palace gates, the guards saw only a simple country girl leave. The Prince had found the glass slipper. He vowed to find and marry its owner.

The Prince journeyed throughout his lands, desperate to find the slipper’s owner. When he arrived at Cinderella’s home he was met by the stepsisters who fought in vain for his attention. Try as they might, neither could get the glass slipper to fit.

Cinderella stepped forth and asked if she might try. Naturally, the slipper fit perfectly. Cinderella and the Prince were soon married.

3. THE QUEST

The protagonist and some companions set out to acquire an important object or get to a location, facing many obstacles and temptations on the way.

Examples: The Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, Watership Down

King Solomon’s Mines

One day, Sir Henry Curtis approached the famous explorer and adventurer, Allan Quartermain. Sir Henry wanted help finding his brother, who had last been seen travelling in search of the legendary King Solomon’s Mines. Quartermain had a mysterious map which was supposed to lead to the mines, but he had never believed the map was real.

However, Quartermain agreed to lead an expedition. In return he would get a share of the treasure, or money for his son if he was killed on the adventure. Quartermain did not have much hope that they would return alive.

The group travelled by oxcart to the edge of a desert. They continued on foot across the desert but almost died of thirst before they reached an oasis shown halfway across on the map. After this, they encountered a mountain range called Suliman Berg. Whilst climbing the mountain, they entered a cave where they found the frozen corpse of Jose Silvestre. This was the explorer who had drawn Quartermain’s map in his own blood! That night was so cold, a servant was killed. His body was left next to the explorer’s.

The group then crossed the mountains into a valley, known as Kukuanaland. There they met a party of Kukuana warriors who were about to kill them. They were saved when Captain Cook, one of the explorers, nervously fidgeted with his false teeth. The Kukuana had never seen false teeth before and recoiled in fear of the sorcerers.

Quartermain and his companions were taken to King Twala. The King was a brutal and unkind ruler. He had become king after murdering his brother and banishing his brother’s wife and infant son, Ignosi, into the desert to die. One of the villagers, Umbopa, revealed that he was Ignosi, the true king.

The explorers were aware that a lunar eclipse was going to occur and used this to trick the Kukuana, tellingthem that it was proof Umbopa was the true king as he had the power to black out the sun! During a battle, King Twala was defeated by Sir Henry, who lopped off his head in a duel.

The explorers captured Gagool, King Twala’s evil advisor. She reluctantly led them to King Solomon’s mines. She showed them a treasure room inside the mountain, full of gold, diamonds and ivory. Whilst they were admiring the hoard, Gagool snuck out and triggered a secret mechanism that closed the mine’s stone door. With few supplies of food and water, the trapped men prepared to die. After a few days sealed within the dark chamber, they discovered an escape route. They left, taking with them pocketfuls of diamonds.

The explorers returned to England, wealthy enough to lead comfortable lives.

4. VOYAGE AND RETURN

The protagonist goes to a strange land and, after overcoming the threats it poses to him or her, returns with experience.

Examples: Alice in Wonderland, Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, The Wizard of Oz

Gulliver’s Travels

Lemuel Gulliver was a sailor who had set out as part of a crew on a long sea voyage. Far from home, disaster struck. Gulliver’s boat was sunk and he was left shipwrecked and the only survivor on a strange and unknown island.

As Gulliver awoke, washed up on the beach, he discovered that he had been captured and tied to the ground by a race of tiny people, all no taller than six inches. They were the inhabitants of the island country of Lilliput.

The Lilliputians argued over what to do with their giant captive but Gulliver was able to convince them that he meant them no harm. He was eventually released and given a place to stay, soon becoming a favourite of the king.

During his time on the island, Gulliver discovered that the people of Lilliput were obsessed with power and influence. His new neighbours were also able to quarrel over anything and everything.

An argument over which end of the egg to crack soon became a war between Lilliput and the neighbouring empire of Blefuscu. Gulliver was asked to use his size to help defend Lilliput. He easily captured the Blefuscan navy, defeating an invasion. However, Gulliver refused to help the emperor in conquering the Blefuscu. This angered the king and the royal court.

Eventually, Gulliver fell out of favour with the king. He was charged with treason and sentenced to be blinded and starved. With the help of a kind friend, Gulliver was able to escape to Blefuscu. Here, he found an abandoned normal-sized boat. He sailed out and was rescued by a passing ship. The ship took him safely home to England.

5. REBIRTH

During the course of the story, an important event forces the main character to change their ways, often making them a better person.

Examples: Beauty and the Beast, How the Grinch stole Christmas, the Frog Prince

A Christmas Carol

Ebeneezer Scrooge was an old miser who hated Christmas. One Christmas Eve, he refused an invitation to Christmas dinner from his nephew and rudely turned away two men who ask for a donation to help the poor. His overworked and poorly paid clerk, Bob Cratchitt, was only allowed time off on Christmas day.

At home that night, Scrooge was visited by the ghost of his old partner, Jacob Marley. Like Scrooge, Marley had led a life of selfishness and greed. Because of this, he was forced to wander the earth as a ghost, weighed down by heavy chains. Marley warned Scrooge that he would be visited by three ghosts that night. If Scrooge did not listen to them, he would suffer the same fate as Marley.

Scrooge was first visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past. He took Scrooge to the time of his boyhood and youth, showing him a time when he was more innocent. Scrooge saw his first boss, Mr Fezziwig, who treated Scrooge like a son. Another person from his past Scrooge was shown, was his fiancée Belle. The old miser watched the moment that Belle ended their relationship because she knew Scrooge would never love her as much as he loved money.

After returning home, Scrooge was visited by the second spectre: the Ghost of Christmas Present. This ghost took Scrooge to a market full of joy and happiness. People were having fun buying food for Christmas.

The third ghost was the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Scrooge was transported to a day in the future. Here, he saw the funeral of a man nobody liked. The only people who attended were local businessmen who came because of the free lunch. Only two people showed any emotion at the funeral: a poor couple who owed money to the dead man. Scrooge was then shown the tombstone of the dead man. The name engraved on it was his own: Ebeneezer Scrooge. Sobbing, Scrooge promised the ghost that he would change his ways.

The next day, Scrooge awoke a changed man. He spent the day with his nephew’s family and anonymously sent a large turkey to the Cratchitt family. From that day, Scrooge treated others with kindness and generosity.