Back to Basics
- Dean Smith
- Jul 29, 2024
- 2 min read
I played football in high school. At 6’ 2”, they made me a tight end even though I had hands of stone. I couldn’t catch a pass if the lobbed it to me underhanded, but I had heart, and that had to count for something.
Our first game was against Arcadia, what many of us considered a redneck school in Central Florida. I’m actually saying this with great respect because those guys could hit, and they hit hard. We lost that game 49-0, and believe me, it was a painful experience in more ways than one.
After watching the game film, which was almost as painful, we had a looooong practice. When a game goes that badly, you rebuild by going back to the basics.
After my feedback session on Old Friends & Other Strangers last week, I’ve decided to reexamine some fundamentals. I remembered reading about the seven basic plots a story can be built on, so I copied them down and am holding them up to Old Friends to see if my overall plot lines up with anything.
1. Overcoming the Monster. The protagonist must defeat an antagonist (usually an individual, force, or entity) that threatens them and the wider world.
2. Rags to Riches. The protagonist achieves something they lack, loses what they’ve gained, and then gets it back again.
3. The Quest. The protagonist must set out in pursuit of a treasure, place, or other goal, overcoming challenges along the way.
4. Voyage and Return. The protagonist travels to a strange new place, experiences hardships and makes discoveries, and then returns home with the lessons they have learned.
5. Comedy. The protagonist experiences a series of lighthearted or confusing events, before the story resolves into a happy ending.
6. Tragedy. The protagonist has a central trait or flaw or makes a mistake, which results in catastrophe.
7. Rebirth. The protagonist undergoes a transformation, and often ends up a better person as a result.
I’m also including a video from John Ortberg, a pastor, who talks about story structure in a way that applies not only to novels but also to everyone’s life. In it, he stresses that every story has a character who desires something. The greater the desire, the greater the drive to fulfill it and continue the journey. However, for a story to be interesting and have tension, there need to be obstacles that get in the way. Hopefully, the character rises to meet the challenges, grows and is changed for the better by end. This video is worth the look.
John Ortber: Everybody Has a Story
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