# Basic Plots **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 13, 2015, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-plots/737454 "2015-11-13T09:39:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-plots/737454/1 "2015-11-13T09:39:12Z")
Regarding this column: [What are the seven basic literary plots? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2366/what-are-the-seven-basic-literary-plots) My Father graduated college in 1959, with a major in Communications and a minor in Theater. He used to say that there were, IIRC, 12 basic plots. “Man vs nature”, “man vs man”, and “man vs himself” all sound like members of his list (which I assume was quoted from someone). But the part I really remember is him saying that the list of 12 was actually wrong. Again, he seemed to be quoting when he asserted that there were really only two: “Boy meets girl” and “A stranger comes to town”. ---
**Author:** ![Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Live_Better_Electrically)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-plots/737454/2 "2015-11-13T12:37:13Z")
I’m surprised that the column didn’t mention William Cook’s 1928 book _Plotto: The Master Book of All Plots_. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-plots/737454/3 "2015-11-13T14:09:17Z")
> [@SpyOne](#): > > Again, he seemed to be quoting when he asserted that there were really only two: “Boy meets girl” and “A stranger comes to town”. In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=48004) from when the column originally appeared, one theory (attributed to John Gardner) discussed is that the two plot types are “a stranger comes to town” and “the protagonist takes a journey.” ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-plots/737454/4 "2015-11-14T17:31:50Z")
> [@](#): > > In the odd case no one gets killed, but this is mostly in works by sensitive lady writers that seldom earn back the advance and even so usually have someone dying of cancer or in some other tragic manner (e.g., Terms of Endearment, Fried Green Tomatoes — come to think of it, someone did get killed in the latter. See what I’m saying?). One of my favorite movies is [Doc Hollywood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hollywood), starring Michael J. Fox. Nobody dies in that movie. ---
**Author:** ![mideastbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@mideastbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mideastbob)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-plots/737454/5 "2015-11-16T09:44:05Z")
I read a lot of SF and I think it was Ursula Le Guin who said there were 5 Levels of Science Fiction Writing, 1 Human Situation with present technology 2 Human Situation with possible future technology 3 Human situation with not at present possible technology 4 Humans and aliens interaction 5 Totally Alien I have no idea of how you would write a totally alien plot, but I think Stanislaw Lem’s writing was nearest. ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-plots/737454/6 "2015-11-16T17:07:27Z")
I had a friend in college who decided all plots could be divided into two categories: [ol] [li]Plots involving naked women.[/li][li]Plots not involving naked women.[/li][/ol] He’d readily admit that the second category was much, much bigger than the first, but he finds the first one more to his liking. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-plots/737454/7 "2015-11-16T17:31:03Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > I had a friend in college who decided all plots could be divided into two categories: > [ol] > [li]Plots involving naked women.[/li][li]Plots not involving naked women.[/li][/ol] > He’d readily admit that the second category was much, much bigger than the first, but he finds the first one more to his liking. I’m getting an idea here… If they can “update” old classics by including zombies (_Pride and Prejudice and Zombies_ et al), why can’t they update old classics by including naked women (_All-Nude Pride and Prejudice_)? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-plots/737454/8 "2015-11-16T19:20:37Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m getting an idea here… If they can “update” old classics by including zombies (_Pride and Prejudice and Zombies_ et al), why can’t they update old classics by including naked women (_All-Nude Pride and Prejudice_)? This is a major genre in porn. They do x-rated versions of popular TV shows or movies. ---
**Author:** ![tiescore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@tiescore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiescore)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-plots/737454/9 "2015-11-17T20:10:05Z")
“We’re more of the love, blood, and rhetoric school. Well, we can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and we can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and we can do you all three concurrent or consecutive. But we can’t give you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory. They’re all blood, you see.” - The Player (Richard Dreyfuss), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1990) ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-plots/737454/10 "2015-11-17T21:25:39Z")
> [@tiescore](#): > > “We’re more of the love, blood, and rhetoric school. Well, we can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and we can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and we can do you all three concurrent or consecutive. But we can’t give you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory. They’re all blood, you see.” - The Player (Richard Dreyfuss), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1990) There are plenty of mainstream Hollywood movies that have violence and nudity, and there are plenty which have violence but no nudity… but it is extremely rare to find one which has nudity and no violence. Doc Hollywood is one of those rare exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-plots/737454/11 "2015-11-18T02:33:45Z")
I think Sex and Death pretty much cover it.