Hi. My name is Jillian and I’m a movieholic.
I confess. I love going to the movies. I love the dark theater. The smell of popcorn, the stadium seating and surround sound, and mostly the experience of losing myself in someone else’s world for 1.5 – 2 hours. I especially love a big sweeping Historical drama like MASTER AND COMMANDER or AUSTRALIA. But I also love a good romantic comedy.
This weekend I saw THE PROPOSAL with Sandra Bullock and that cute guy from Scrubs, Ryan Reynolds. It’s your basic Fake Engagement/Marriage of Convenience story. And I loved it.
Over the years I’ve read countless Marriage of Convenience romances. I even helped plot one with my critique partner in her first novel for Harlequin American–on shelves in July called LAST RESORT: MARRIAGE (shameless plug) And yet they’re all different, all great stories, wonderful romances. So, what makes the same basic plot work over and over again?
In The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, by Christopher Booker, the author proposes that there are only 7 basic plots in the world. They are:
Overcoming the Monster – Usually a lone hero but sometimes a group who set out to save a community or the world from an evil villain, whether it be evil man, animal, or alien.
Rags to Riches – Usually a demoralized character who fights to find his or her place in the world
The Quest – features a hero, normally joined by sidekicks, who must overcome many difficult adversities to secure a priceless treasure
Voyage and Return – The hero must leave his ordinary world to embark on an epic journey that usually involves danger. The hero ultimately learns a life lesson in order to return home.
Comedy – Can be slapstick or wit that drives the story.
Tragedy – When human flaws drive a hero to terrible consequences.
Rebirth — centers on characters who undergo life-changing transformation. In his book, Booker states that the 1975 movie JAWS is the same basic tale that was told over a thousand years earlier in BEOWULF; Overcoming the Monster. Both stories feature a town terrorized by a monster who rips his victims to pieces. And both have a hero who defeats the monster in a gory final battle, restoring peace to the town. Many modern movies and novels follow this plot, even if the “monster” is an evil genius bent on destroying the world, as in every James Bond story.
What about the Rags to Riches plot? DAVID COPPERFIELD, and OLIVER TWIST come to mind. And there’s CINDERELLA, of course, and all the many versions of that story like… PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, or MAID IN MANHATTAN.
The Quest? Well, there’s the obvious; DON QUIXOTE, and Tolkien’s LORD OF THE RINGS. There’s also THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, THE SURE THING, UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN
Voyage and Return? Homer’s epic tale, THE ODYSSEY, ROBINSON CRUSOE, and of course THE WIZARD OF OZ. In more modern times, perhaps KATE AND LEOPOLD or 13 GOING ON 30
Comedy: A MISUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, EMMA, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, THE WEDDING PLANNER, MUST LOVE DOGS
Tragedy: ROMEO AND JULIET and WUTHERING HEIGHTS, NIGHTS IN RODANTHE, ATONEMENT
Rebirth: SNOW WHITE, SLEEPING BEAUTY, PERSUASION,
P.S. I LOVE YOU, JUST LIKE HEAVEN

These 7 basic plots represent the fundamental human desires: love, death, adventure, family, justice, and adversity. And these desires were as relevant to people thousands of years ago as they are today. We identify with these basic human desires in all their many forms of story. But we must also identify with the characters. They’re as individual as every human being. Compelling fiction will contain conflicts and complications that prevent the protagonist from achieving love, or fortune, or peace. And if we identify with the character, we want him or her to come through the storm and win the treasure or the love or the peace they’ve been fighting for.
I’ve been listing classic novels and contemporary movies, but what about the contemporary romance novel? Specifically, Blaze. Julie Leto talked in her blog on the 22nd about Harlequin Blaze having everything: Historical, Paranormal, Suspense and Comedy. This got me to thinking—always a dangerous thing—could we find a Blaze for each of these 7 Basic plots? In Jo Leigh’s IN TOO DEEP series, we find the protagonists Overcoming the Monster–Corrupt Government–and restoring peace to the world.
What Blazes sit on your keeper shelf? And what basic plots can you identify in them?

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 27th, 2009 at 10:24 pm and is filed under Jillian Burns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.