I read somewhere that there are only seven basic plots in literature and all fictional stories are a variation of one or other of these plots.

Is this true?

Does anyone know what the 7 basic plots are?

Bill

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Here's an exerpt (the introduction):

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I've heard there are only 7 (or 5, 20, 36, 37...) basic plots (or themes) in all of literature. What are they?

People often say that there are only a certain number of basic plots in all of literature, and that any story is really just a variation on these plots. Depending on how detailed they want to make a "basic" plot, different writers have offered a variety of solutions. Here are some of the ones we've found:

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