Are there really only a dozen or so tropes or plotlines in most movies

[Stranger_On_A_Train]

@Spice_Weasel

So while I don’t think understanding story structure is sufficient to write a good book, I have personally found the concept very helpful in learning to improve my writing.

I think that aptly summarizes the point I was trying, insuccinctly, to make. You can tell a good story without structure but you’re often getting in your own way, whereas you can structure practically anything whether it is compelling or not. Telling a good story efficiently and well, however, and in a way that flows so well you don’t even notice the structure is a true art that few writers achieve consistently.

Stranger

[Andy_L]

@buddha_david

My creative writing teacher told me that there’s three basic types of stories:

1. Boy Meets Girl.
2. The Man Who Learns Better.
3. The Little Engine That Could.

That’s basically Heinlein’s list (though he calls the last one “The Brave Little Tailor”).

John Hodgeman includes three additional plots: “Man versus Man,” “Man versus Plan” and of course “Man versus Canal” (but he’s kidding).