Having problems with plots? Muse lying around like an old dog on a cold day? Here's a list that might get that moribund mastiff off its haunches!

The following is paraphrased and shortened from Ronald Tobias' “Twenty Master Plots and How to Build Them,” probably the latest popular attempt to categorize plots.

The plots:

Quest: a hero or heroine is on a quest to find something. Ex: Jason and the Argonauts, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

1. A quest should be about a search for a person, place or thing.
2. It should move around a lot. The protagonist should visit many people and places, but with a coherent purpose.
3. Think about making it geographically full circle, where the protagonist finishes at the same place as he started.
4. The character should be different at the end of the quest, the quest having changed him.
5. The reason for the journey should be a form of ultimate understanding, a self-realization or wisdom.
6. It should start with a motivating incident. The readers should understand clearly why the protagonist wants to go on the quest.
7. Think about having a traveling companion. He or she is useful to bounce ideas around or argue with. A companion is also good for keeping the story grounded.
8. Think about having a helpful character, too.
9. The last chapter should reveal what your character has learned, and should come after he or she has either given up the quest or succeeded.
10. The final revelation or outcome of the quest is quite often not what the character originally thought it would be.

Adventure: similar to a quest, but the key is exploring a weird and wonderful world. There's a sense of awe. It resembles a quest plot, but unlike the quest, which is more of a character plot, the adventure is more action than introspection. Ex: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

1. The focus should be more on the journey than the person making the journey.
2. It should concentrate of new and exciting places.
3. The protagonist goes in search of wealth or fame that could never be found at home.
4. The main character should be motivated by someone or some event to start him on his way.
5. The actions and his adventures should be related to what made him go on the journey in the first place.
6. The hero doesn't have to change to any meaningful degree.
7. There is often romance.

Pursuit: something or someone is after someone else. The struggle is to get, or to stop someone. Ex: Alien, Moby Dick, Terminator, Friday the Thirteenth.

1. The chase is more important than the people involved.
2. There has to be a real danger that the pursued might be caught and may actually be captured by the pursuer for a time.
3. There should be plenty of physical action.
4. The story and the characters should be engaging and unique.
5. Avoid cliches.
6. Keep the geographical area as confined as possible. The smaller the chase area, the greater the tension.
7. The first section should define the ground rules for the chase, the stakes, and start the chase with a motivating event.

Rescue: It's about a rescue. The protagonist's struggle is to rescue someone or something. Ex: Seven Samurai, The Princess Bride.

1. Rescue depends more on action than characterization.
2. You should have a distinct hero, a victim and a villain, and the hero should rescue the victim from the villain.
3. The moral argument should be unambiguous.
4. The hero should be proactive and usually must deal with the villain on his turf.
5. The hero should be defined by his relationship to the villain.
6. The villain should be keeping the hero from what the hero believes is rightfully his — in the case of his wife, metaphorically speaking.
7. The villain should constantly interfere with the hero's progress.
8. The victim is the weakest of the three characters and should be used as a device for forcing the hero to confront the villain.
9. There should be three dramatic phases: the separation, the pursuit, and the confrontation and reunion.

Escape: The heart of the story is about an escape. Ex: Stalag 17, The Great Escape.

1. At the start, your protagonist should be confined against his will and want to escape.
2. The moral argument should be unambiguous.
3. The hero should be the victim.
4. There are commonly three dramatic phases: the hero's imprisonment and first attempt at escape, which fails; the planning for the escape — which should be difficult and often prevented by his captor; the actual escape.
5. The captor has control in the first two parts, with the hero taking control in the final dramatic phase.

Revenge: It's about getting even, a real vigilante justice thing. Ex: The Count of Monte Cristo, Death Wish.

1. The hero seeks revenge for a real or imagined injury.
2. Most revenge plots concentrate more on the action than an examination of the hero's motives.
3. The revenge is almost always vigilante justice.
4. The should make the reader feel that institutional justice could or would be inadequate, and that the protagonist's actions are justified.
5. The vengeance may be equal to, but not exceed the the initial offense.
6. The hero should first try institutional justice, which fails.
7. There are three phases: the first should reveal the terrible cost of the initial offense against the protagonist; the second is about making plans for revenge, and then following them; the third is the final confrontation.
8. Sometimes the satisfaction is complete, like “The Count of Monte Cristo,” but sometimes the revenge doesn't achieve the satisfaction the hero expects.

Riddle: it's about solving a mystery. Ex: DOA and a lot of mystery and detective stories follow this pattern.

1. The heart of the riddle should be clever, hiding the answer in plain sight.
2. The tension comes from the difference between what seems to happen vs. what actually happens.
3. The reader is challenged to solve the mystery before the protagonist does.
4. Three dramatic phases: establishing the people, places and events that will be involved in the riddle; the specifics of the riddle and more details on how everything and everyone relates to each other in that context; the riddle's solution — it should explain the motives of the antagonist and the real sequence of events.

Rivalry: it's about a rivalry between two people, roughly evenly matched, and only one can come out on top. Ex: Ben Hur, which was the rivalry between two former friends, Judah Ben Hur and the Roman, Massala.

1. The source of the conflict should be two irreconcilable forces facing against each other — a philosophical/cultural divide, loyalty, the rivalry for a girl, something along those lines.
2. The story should ultimately be about the struggle for power between the rivals.
3. They should be evenly matched, although each of the strengths and weaknesses don't, and probably shouldn't necessarily be the same.
4. Demonstrate the status quo, then show the initial conflict.
5. The antagonist should start the conflict against the will of the protagonist.
6. The antagonist is more powerful than the protagonist at the beginning.
7. The moral differences between the two become clear rather quickly.
8. Three phases: The protagonist suffers at the hands of the antagonist and is usually put at a disadvantage; the fortunes are reversed and the protagonist becomes powerful enough to challenge the antagonist; the final confrontation.
9. At the end, the protagonist restores order for himself and his world.

Underdog: like rivalry, but this time, one side is much stronger than the other. Ex: Rocky, Cinderella, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

1. Underdog is like the rivalry plot except that the protagonist is much weaker than the antagonist. It could be a weak or poor man or woman against a powerful establishment or lord.
2. The dramatic phases are similar to rivalry; the protagonist gradually becomes powerful enough to challenge the antagonist.
3. The protagonist usually, but not always, overcomes the antagonist.
4. The author should not cheat the reader, but make sure that they feel the triumph of the protagonist as he succeeds or gains satisfaction in the attempt.

Temptation: not a very common plot, it's the subject of many old-time fairy tales. A person is tempted to do something wrong.

1. Temptation is a character plot, a test of character.
2. It's all about morality and the consequences of choice.
3. It should show the consequences of temptation; the character should make the wrong choice, even knowing that it's the wrong thing to do.
4. Dramatic phases: establish the protagonist's personality; establish the nature of the temptation and how the protagonists struggles with his or her decision; the protagonist gives in and yields to temptation — there be some short-term gratification; the protagonist usually tries to rationalize the decision; the consequences of the decision are revealed and the short-term pleasures start to turn sour; the protagonist tries to avoid responsibility and the consequences get worse.
5. The final phase should resolve the protagonist's increasing internal struggles. It should end with atonement, reconciliation and forgiveness.

Metamorphosis: someone is physically transformed into something else. Sometimes it's a curse, like Beauty and the Beast, where the curse is lifted because the formerly selfish man becomes selfless, sometimes it's like Dracula, where we are fascinated by an evil yet sympathetic being, and sometimes it's about making an adjustment to a new body. A lot of TG stories, including Ranma, use physical transformation, but they don't follow the classic plot guidelines of the metamorphosis plot — for obvious reasons, seeing that few who write TG regard becoming a girl as a curse. For the record, the “classic” metamorphosis plot checklist is:

1. The metamorphosis is generally the result of a curse.
2. The cure is usually love, which can be for a child, a woman, a man, people, or a higher power.
3. The metamorph is usually the protagonist.
4. The plot usually shows the way back to humanity.
5. It's a character plot, so we care more for the metamorph than his actions.
6. The metamorph usually wants out of his predicament, and there is usually a way, which the antagonist, almost always the one that cursed him, controls.
7. The story generally starts just prior to the release of the curse.
8. The antagonist should act as the catalyst that pushes him towards the release.
9. Dramatic phases: the first should show the metamorph in his cursed state, where he has no idea why he has been cursed; the second should show the evolving relationship between the antagonist and the metamorph; the third should show the metamorph fulfilling the terms of the release and the curse lifted. The reader should understand at the end why he was cursed.

Transformation: the plot doesn't refer to physical transformation, it's about the mental aspects of a change in one's life. Ex: A rich man is reduced to poverty for a while and becomes a better person. A coward learns to be strong while under fire, an addict straightens out her rotten life through hard work and returns to her neighborhood a changed woman.

A note on TG stories:

A lot of TG stories have at their base, physical transformation, which is, strictly speaking, not a plot in itself, but an important event in one's life that could lead to a plot such as transformation, where the mental aspects of the change are dealt with. In fact, quite a few TG stories are a lot less of a personal reflection of the changes within than they are a test drive in the new body — more like taking a sports car on the road to “see what she'll do.” Now that's just fine, and it has a purpose, but it isn't “transformation,” at least not as it's defined here.

1. Transformation deals with the process of change as the protagonist experiences a change in his life.
2. The plot should concentrate of a portion of a person's life (a change in sex would qualify!), moving from one mental state to another.
3. The story should look at the nature of the mental change and how it affects the protagonist.
4. The dramatic phases: the first should relate the transforming incident that puts the main character into the crisis that forces him (or her) to make the mental changes; the second phase, which can be expanded to more than one, depending on how many significant mental revelations occur, should show the mental changes, normally done at key points as mental self-examination; the last phase should be a wrap-up of sorts, a summary that characterizes the true nature of the experience and how it has affected him (her in TG, 99% of the time, naturally).
5. Often the price of wisdom is a certain sadness. (Not so often in this group! :)

Maturation: It's a transformation story of sorts, but concentrates on the process of growing up. A child becomes a man or woman by meeting certain crisis in a way that makes them become an adult, often sadder but wiser.

1. The protagonist is on the cusp of adulthood, whose goals are either confused or not yet clarified.
2. Make sure the readers know who the protagonist is so they have a good basis to understand the changes.
3. Contrast the child's protected life to the life he or she is about to enter as an adult.
4. Create an incident which challenges her beliefs and understandings of how the world works.
5. Show how she reacts to it, then show how her thinking and beliefs change because of it.
6. The change within her should be gradual, not sudden, and it must be convincing. It also must be from a child's point of view, not an adult's.
7. At the end, demonstrate the psychological costs of the lessons learned.

Love: Hey! It's a love story. Boy meets girl; they're right for each other but something comes between them, a misunderstanding, social class ... a sex change, whatever! And it's all (most of the time), wrapped up in the end as neatly as a red ribbon on Sailor Moon. It can also be angry or crazy love, like Orpheus and Eurydice.

1. The possibility of the two potential lovers getting together should always be met with a major obstacle.
2. They're usually ill-suited in some way, setting up that old line about love conquering all.
3. The first attempt to clear the impediment to their love isn't successful the vast majority of the time. Love can't be too easy or it's meaningless.
4. It's nearly always the case that one or the other is more aggressive about getting together.
5. Normally, love stories have happy endings, but you can't force two undeserving lovers together.
6. Special effort must be taken to make your characters authentic, convincing and interesting. No stereotypes.
7. Feel the characters, emote with them. If you can't feel it, neither will the readers.
8. Remember that love is earned, not given. True love means two worthy characters.
9. Understand the role of sentiment and sentimentality. Formulaic love stories are fluff, and for them, the usual sentimentality is probably fine. A one-of-a-kind love story requires more effort and real emotion.

Forbidden Love: it's a subcategory of love, but with a twist that makes it impossible for them to be together -- family rivalries, incest, adultery, gay love (maybe not so much now), May - December love or whatever. Ex: Romeo and Juliet.

1. Forbidden love is love that goes against deep social conventions.
2. The lovers ignore social convention and follow their hearts.
3. Dramatic phases: the first defines the situation, the type of forbidden love they have in social context; the second deals with the social pressure they endure; the third takes the lovers to the end point in their relationship where all the moral scores are settled.
4. Usually, the ending to this type of story is separation, either by death or desertion.

Sacrifice: it's about sacrificing oneself for a higher cause. Ex: Tale of Two Cities, where a man takes another man's place on the gallows because he loves the other man's wife and wants her to be happy, and High Noon, where a departing Sheriff, on the day of his wedding, sacrifices his safety to face down a gang of bad men (and his wife also sacrifices her Quaker principles of non-violence to save him).

1. The sacrifice should be at great personal cost.
2. The protagonist should undergo a major transformation during the tale, moving from a lower moral plane to a higher one.
3. This type of plot is very character driven. The reader should understand his motivations, and what his decision means to himself and others.
4. Make sure to show a clear line of circumstances forcing his actions, then his responses to those actions.
5. There should be a strong moral dilemma running through the story. The sacrifice can't be a no-brainer.

Discovery: it's related to a number of other plots, but it focuses on internal discovery of who a person is. “Who am I? It asks. An example is “The Portrait of a Lady” by Henry James. It's about a rich, romantically inclined woman who marries the wrong man. He and his mistress, who arranged their meeting, use her for her money. In the end, she is poorer but wiser about human nature.

1. The discovery plot is very much more about the main character making a discovery than what the discovery is.
2. The main character must be understood before she makes her discovery to provide a good contrast between the before and the after.
3. Make sure that the event which forces her introspection and discovery is significant and interesting, as not to bore the reader.
4. This sort of story is a delicate thing. It must be believable and non-melodramatic to be authentic. The main character's reactions to her discovery should be in proportion to events.
5. It can't be preachy; it should allow the readers to make up their own minds.

Wretched excess: It's not necessarily what it sounds like. This plot is dark, an exploration of what seems to be a normal human being who makes a critical error in judgment or has a unfortunate defect in his character, either of which create grievous personal consequences. “Othello” has such a plot. Othello has a serious character flaw — he trusts an absolute cad, Iago. The results are dreadful and eventually he goes mad. I suppose “Death of a Salesman” could be another; ultimately, it wasn't events, it was Willy Loman's character flaws that caused him to go mad.

1. Wretched excess is about psychological decline of a character.
2. Base the decline on a character flaw.
3. There should be three dramatic phases: how he was before the decline; how events effect him during his decline; and the crisis point, where he ultimately has to decide which way to go — he might go crazy, do something horrendous, or recover.
4. Make the character sympathetic.
5. Melodrama is bad; forcing emotion is bad; ambiguity at the character's fate at the end is bad.
6. Be straightforward with information about your characters; holding back cheats the readers who want to know how they should feel about the characters, particularly about the protagonist.

Ascension and Descension: This is the journey of the rise of a character, the fall of a character, or the rise and fall of a character. It can be a moral rise, such as in “The Elephant Man,” or about the life story of someone like Coco Chanel, who rose from absolute poverty to run a fashion empire.

1. It's a story about a single character. He or she should be charismatic, strong-willed and unique. The other characters in the tale are secondary.
2. The heart of the story should be a moral dilemma or event that tests her character and changes her in a way that propels her up or down.
3. Events and character are closely related. She makes the decisions that make her fate. The story is how she acts upon the world, rather than how the world acts on her.
4. As in other character-driven stories, show what she was like before she became the character that ascended or descended so the reader has a good comparison.
5. Avoid a dramatic rise or fall. It should be a gradual and sometimes uneven process.

"A woman is unfathomable; it's hard enough to know yourself."

Herth Tarr, Zhorian philosopher.

Regards,

Aardvark