The Seven Story Types

All stories will fit into one of seven basic plot types. These plots date back to ancient Greek theatre and the names we give them are based on famous examples of stories which fit into that category. The 7 plots are:

1. ACHILLES - The flawless (or almost flawless) person, e.g. Superman.
2. CINDERELLA - The dream come true (e.g. Dirty Dancing, Pretty Woman.)
3. CIRCE - The chase, e.g The Blues Brothers.
4. FAUST - Selling your soul to the Devil may bring riches, but eventually, you will belong to him, e.g. Wall Street
5. ORPHEUS - The loss of something personal, e.g. Regarding Henry,
6. ROMEO & JULIET - The love story, e.g. Sleepless In Seattle. (Ironically, Shakespere's Romeo & Juliet actually goes into the Tristan and Iseult category!)
7. TRISTAN And ISEULT- X loves Y, but one or both are already spoken for, e.g. Fatal Attraction.