The 8 Basic Storylines

[Klaark]

And then there was James Joyce.

[Baltic State Lithuania]

I think it is kind of fun to fit your own stories into these categories.
But did you forget the Hero's Journey...? Or is that its own semi-genre?

[Koydith Ametrya]

xwalrusx

There are a lot of stories that don't fit any of these categories (hell, there's only eight).
failure.

indeed
mines don't fit there

[Hasslich Kekse]

you're forgetting all about the skeleton plot. this is the plot in which the main character must go on a journey from point A to point B. along the way, they meet people and do stuff and junk.

[Keearina]

I'd be apt to agree that there are a limited amount of plots only because there are a limited number of conflict types. BUT that doesn't mean there aren't millions of different conflicts and variations, just a imited number of what the essence of the struggle is. But as for these eight, I think there are more than that. But it was kinda useful of your teacher to make one look at and see the common threads through stories.

[mokurox]

i like to read every tipe of books but my favories books....mmmm...i dont have...i was reading the alchemist thats book has very good history

[a sunset over monroeville]

lately, i've been writing a story along the lines of the romeo and juliet and the
achilles story plot. my main character has a false sense of judgement; he's
quick to judge and say things before he actually thinks about it and usually gets
himself into crazy situations that he has a hard time getting out of.

at the same time, the plot somewhat differs from the romeo and juliet plot.
instead of it being romeo and juliet, its more like 'romeo and romoe' (yes, a boy's
love story. trust me: its not like the completely obnoxious ones that any of you
have bothered to read.) the very main character and another main character
have somewhat of a love and hate friendship; they hate it each other, yet the
main character allows the lower character to use 'romantic' (no sex) moves
against.

the storyline is kind of crazy.
i don't even feel like elaborating even more than i've done now.
D:

[Nyxix]

I think the only plot that fits with what I write is the Achilles plot. Then again, that's not the WHOLE story. The elements in between are what makes it a GREAT story.

[Kage_no_Taren]

Yeah, it's true that most stories fit into one of these categories. But I think people resent it actually being mentioned, because it makes them feel unoriginal, and then they feel compelled to try to write something that isn't any of these, or just declare that nothing they write falls under any of your categories...it's like when I tried to disprove the first algebraic axiom...

[Heroes March]

No, that's not true at all.

One of the stories I'm writing isn't about any of those things. Your teacher is an idiot for saying you can cram all literature into tiny categories.

[3llo]

A really good writer will be able to take one (or several of course) of thoose subjects and still make it unique in it's group.

[Asia Milam]

*Head tilt.* Is your teacher saying that these are the main points in most stories or that each of these points can be found in some way in all stories? If they are saying that it is the main plot or something of the like, then some plots are missing entirely from that list. If they are saying that those points can just be found in a story while not be the main plot, then yes, that's true. After all, any good story has a lot of elements to it and usually one of those elements happens to be one on that list.

But still, that list is missing something for the story where the main character or protagonist isn't the "knight in shining armor" type, but the "should be in jail or a mental ward" type. You know, the character that you learn to love and adore, but during the climax of the story said character flips out and kills people. That sort of story is missing on that list.

[schmeddyhead]

I think, that while this is probably true (except in one case: the story of random, every day events, which usually has all those plots, but none are center stage) it's absolutely ridiculous, because you have to strip back any identity the story actually has, and manipulate and interpret the events to cast the mold.

Whether or not you can slap one of those labels on every single story ultimately doesn't matter, because one has achieved nothing in doing so. Even if a story has, say, the Cinderella plot, what benefit does it provide? I think, from a writer's standpoint, this information is ultimately useless, because it shouldn't (and hopefully doesn't) have any effect on the product itself.

Also, the trick to these categories is that they're so broad it's near impossible to not find a part of any story that goes into any of those categories. Essentially, the categories were made so vast and general, in order to encompass all stories, that they are in effect rendered useless because "a love story" has almost no meaning about what the story actually is about. People in love. Great. What does that tell you? Not much.

[The Draken]

Dark Lord M

Bullshit, there is no way those 8 things can be applied to every story. It may have a presence in most stories but those 8 things don't cover the entirety.

This.

I didn't even have to try to come up with something that defied every single one. I thought I would have to, but not really.

Protagonist tries something, fails, nothing bad becomes of it.

Edit: If this falls into a category, tell me.
Also, if I'm completely misunderstanding this, tell me.

[I am Chickenman]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarne-Thompson_classification_system


Actually, there's more than 2500 categorized "plots" recognized as common to human psyche and seen in mythos worldwide.

2500 is more than 8.

Might want to inform your teacher that she's teaching you to be ignorant.