20 master plots (and how to build them) Book

There are dozens of books that promise to list out all of the plots possible. From Heinlien's famous three to George Polti's The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations , writers have been attempting to codify what makes a plot a plot.

Tobias' contribution is certainly in that same vein, but this is probably one of the weaker books in my "how to write" collection. The first hint that something is amiss is the cover, which has scenes from movies rather than books (although how you would illustrate a cover with "scenes from books" does, I admit, present a bit of a challenge). The book lists 20 common plots (Quest, Adventure, Riddle, Rivalry, Forbidden Love, etc...) and where to use them. "Riddles" are for mysteries is the grand Poirot, Agatha Christie flavor, and "Forbidden Love" is a common theme of lots of modern Human/Faery/Vampire urban fantasies.

It's certainly a worthwhile catalog, but for most part these aren't plots, really. They're meta-plots. They're ideas about plots. Even if your character is on a quest, how do you make his or her life hard between here and there? How do you reach the "all is hopeless" moment, and how does your character overcome it? You, the writer, must still invent that, write it, revise it, and make it meaningful to the overall arc of the story.

Most writers know the story they want to tell. 20 Master Plots might have some ideas, but not enough to get you over the hump. You're still gonna have to write that book on your own.