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Master Plotlines

20 Master Plotlines

Adventure In an adventure story our attention is on the journey. Often, adventures take the characters to exotic locations, dangerous and unexpected places. Adventure is used to tell stories of Olympic athletes, new space technology, automotive innovations, a war correspondent, or the exciting experiences of a visionary CEO or leader. Adventure stories are useful as frames for important speeches, television interviews, historical documents, and other venues like the Internet and social media.

Discovery Discovery is a character based plot. Discovery is a plot about people and their quest to understand who they are and the world around them: “Who am I?” “How did I get here?” “Why am I here?” “What does this all mean?” Discovery answers life's questions using characters and situations that seem real and concrete. Discovery plots fit well with activists (GLBTQ, animal protection/rights, outdoors people, protest leaders), as well as individuals and leaders in other contexts.

Escape The escape plot is literal, someone is being held against his/he will and wants to escape. Consider Edward Snowden who fled the US and his lengthy confinement to the Russian airport transit zone, the Swiss Hostage who recently escaped from Islamist terrorists (www.cnn.com/2014/12/06/world/asia/philippines-swiss-escapes), etc. In the escape plot, the victim is his/her own hero. Often the victim is portrayed as having been wrongly accused or falsely imprisoned. In the escape plot, instead of waiting patiently to be rescued, the victim often frees him/herself. Escape plots often revolve around unfair imprisonment.

Forbidden Love This story takes many forms: older man and younger women, younger man and older woman, couple united across racial, ethnic, or class boundaries, etc. Forbidden love often ends badly. The lovers are forced to conform to society, and face disillusionment, death, mutilation, etc. Social convention usually wins. Forbidden love stories are used by politicians, activist organizations, and members of racial and ethic groups working for social harmony.

Love The common story is of two lovers who find each other in the beginning of the story, but circumstances separate them. They spend the remainder of the story trying to get back together. Love stories may be used in an assortment of contexts including animal welfare organizations, environmental activists, organizations supporting partner benefits, etc.

Maturation Maturation is a coming of age story. The focus of the story is on the protagonist's moral and psychological growth. Consider children subjected to cyber-bullying or dealing with terminal or potentially fatal diseases. Activists and immigrant organizations tell maturation stories. The prodigal son, and the “local boy/girl does good” story are forms of maturation.

Metamorphosis The metamorphosis plot is about literal change from one form to another (lycanthrope, vampire, robot, transgender). Public relations, stories about metamorphosis are becoming increasingly real as technology allows us to create more-realistic computers and robots/androids, sentient computer viruses and operating systems, transplant heads on to new bodies, etc. Similarly, activist organizations (health and GLBTQ) often deal with physical and emotional transformation. This plot will also be reified as DARPA robots eventually take to the battlefields or streets, or evolve into “personal helpers/pets,” etc.

Pursuit The pursuit story is essentially a hide-and-seek, where one person, organization, or group pursues another. Consider the search for subatomic particles like the Higgs boson, a scientist defecting from another country, international computer hackers, “deadbeat dads” hiding from the law, or soldiers on the trail of a captured comrade. A pursuit story might be used to frame a feature story, or used in supplementary material on the Internet, social media, and annual report, internal documents used to socialize new employees, as narrative frames for organizational videos, etc.

Quest The quest is the “search for a person, place, or thing, tangible or intangible.” The protagonist hopes that their life will be changed if they find the object of their quest. The quest could be for a disease cure, a new automotive technology, a rewarding career, a college major or job, or the place for a perfect vacation. The quest story is suitable for organizational histories, social media and blogs, annual reports, etc.

Rescue Typically, the hero(ine) of the rescue plot has to venture out into the cruel world searching for someone or something. Rescue is a physical plot, depending heavily on action. Another genre of rescue pits the protagonist against a powerful enemy in an effort to save the business, farm, etc. Thus, the “victim,” in this case could be the “truth,” “freedom,” etc. embodied in a publication, public building, trial, park, etc. The rescue plot is used by activist groups, to sell KickStarter campaigns, to warrant supporting petitions and action alerts, and of course, for organizations like NASA, trying to get kids interested in science and technology.

Revenge The revenge story is about taking the law into one's own hands when the powers that be fail to do what is right. The protagonist does not want to have to break the law, but is forced into it by circumstances. The protagonist of the revenge story is generally a good person forced to take vengeance into his/her own hands. The revenge story often pits the little guy against the big corporation or a corrupt governmental agency or police department. Revenge has been used to describe hacking activities, governmental actions in other countries, employee (and company) mistreatment stories, etc.

Riddle/Mystery The riddle challenges the audience to figure out what happened by means of enigmatic clues and bits of seemingly trivial information. Some riddles have existed for ages (such as mathematics, physics, and cryptology questions), while others have just emerged as the physical, social, and economic environment has changed with climate change, finance, crime, etc. Science and governmental organizations often draw upon mystery.

Rise/Fall This is the rise and fall story so common among politicians, entertainers, celebrities, etc. Indeed, the fall or descent story often follows from the “wretched excess” plot. The story can recount either the rise, or the fall, or both. Rise and fall stories have been used extensively for propaganda purposes, and for marketing and reputation building activities.

Rivalry Rivalry pits two competing characters that are working for the same goal against each other. Famous examples include the Tesla/Edison rivalry surrounding AC vs. DC current, and the more modern rivalries among space exploration companies competing to be the first to create space tourism and reusable rockets. Rivalry is a perfect plot for competing scientists, researchers, and activists. Rivalry is a plot about human nature and morality. Rivalry can be a competitive story, in which each character wants to be the first to reach a particular goal (make it to the top of the mountain, reach the North Pole, sequence human DNA, cure cancer), or a historical story.

Sacrifice Sacrifice often takes the form of one person making a sacrifice that is out of character for him/her and comes with a stiff price tag. The story needs to lead up to the point where s/he is ready and willing to make the sacrifice but to be believable this process needs to be built up. Often the person making the sacrifice is seemingly without morals. Explorers, activists, test pilots, single parents, war heroes, scientists working in remote or dangerous locations, people working for racial, religious, economic, or political rights, and other dynamic figures are perfect for telling sacrifice stories.

Temptation/Greed The temptation story is about a person rather than the object of their temptation. What is the character being tempted with? What is the price to be paid for giving in? The temptation story emerges every few years as a new ponzi scheme emerges, or surrounding greed in the banking industry. Activist and politicians use it to frame legal reform. Consider the story of Major General Smedley Butler for an excellent example.

Transformation Transformation occurs when someone experiences a life-changing event like the loss of a loved one from cancer, an insurance company denies coverage for a life-threatening illness, a person contracts AIDS, etc. The transformation story can support new converts to causes, activism by previously passive supporters, etc. We see transformations as people switch political parties, shift their ideologies from conservative to liberal, suffer an illness and throw themselves into becoming more-healthy, etc. Transformation is useful in political public relations contexts, by activists, and in social media and blog content.

Underdog The underdog is the little guy/gal against the big corporation, government, agency, etc. The underdog needs to appear motivated and realistic. Often the underdog is an-over-the top personality, but there is a reluctant underdog who struggles against petty tyranny. The underdog plot is used to frame activist messages (environmental, climate change, educational spending assistance for the homeless), fund-raising campaigns (AIDS, breast cancer) or other health/disease issue (medicinal marijuana, RU486, abortion).

Wretched Excess The plot usually revolves around a single person, although a focus on a group of people and how they were changed is possible. The wretched excess plot is employed by activists, religious groups, and others, often to support issues management efforts, new legislation, increased taxes/regulation, CEO fraud or misbehavior, corporate misinformation, etc.