plot types (the overall shape of the story)
plot structures (the sequence of beats a story follows).
The Hero’s Journey is mainly a structure
Christopher Booker’s The Seven Basic Plots (2004): Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth.
The list most often taught as “the ten basic plots,” especially in screenwriting and creative-writing classes, comes from Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! (2005).
- Monster in the House — characters are trapped in a confined space with a threat that was invited by some “sin.” Examples: Jaws, Alien.
- Golden Fleece — a quest for an object or goal; the journey itself changes the hero more than the prize does. Examples: The Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future.
- Out of the Bottle — a wish is granted or a curse is imposed, teaching the hero a lesson. Examples: Freaky Friday, Groundhog Day.
- Dude with a Problem — an ordinary person is suddenly dropped into an extraordinary crisis. Examples: Die Hard, The Martian.
- Rites of Passage — a life-stage crisis forces the protagonist to grow up or accept change. Examples: Ordinary People, Lady Bird.
- Buddy Love — two mismatched people need each other and slowly form a bond (romantic or otherwise). Examples: When Harry Met Sally, Shrek.
- Whydunit — a mystery whose real revelation is something dark about human nature rather than just “who did it.” Example: Chinatown.
- The Fool Triumphant — an underestimated simpleton or outsider succeeds where the sophisticated fail. Example: The Jerk.
- Institutionalized — an individual clashes with a group, family, or system that tries to absorb or destroy them. Examples: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, MASH*.
- Superhero — an extraordinary person lives in an ordinary world (or vice versa) and must decide how to use their difference. Example: A Beautiful Mind.
Ronald Tobias’s 20 Master Plots
(Quest, Adventure, Pursuit, Rescue, Escape, Revenge, The Riddle, Rivalry, Underdog, Temptation, Metamorphosis, Transformation, Maturation, Love, Forbidden Love, Sacrifice, Discovery, Wretched Excess, Ascension, Descension)
Georges Polti’s 36 Dramatic Situations from the 19th century, which break stories down by the specific conflict (Supplication, Deliverance, Crime Pursued by Vengeance, etc.).
Computational studies of thousands of novels have also reduced emotional trajectories to six basic shapes: Rags to Riches, Tragedy (Riches to Rags), Man in a Hole, Icarus, Cinderella, and Oedipus.