J. Degerman

I found two lists of common fiction plot lines on a site called Strange Horizons*, these lists, which certainly can be very useful for anyone writing fiction of any kind refers however mainly to the implied genres which Strange Horizons aim at, their main input and output which are within the scope of so called ’sci-fi’, but I doubt that that really have to apply at all, it’s actually not necessary, just something to be kept in mind perhaps.

The list contains plot lines of stories that the people at SH have seen much too often, and they are careful to point out that whatever is listed does not necessarily imply a bad story but simply a commonly written story which would suggest that if you are writing a story that corresponds a bit too closely to one of the points on the list then perhaps try to reconsider or make something new about it, put in a twist or just whatever you can think of not to make it ‘just another [insert random dot point from SH's list] stories’

These are the first five dots points, the full updated list can be read here: Stories We’ve Seen Too Often

1. Person is (metaphorically) at point A, wants to be at point B. Looks at point B, says “I want to be at point B.” Walks to point B, encountering no meaningful obstacles or difficulties. The end. (A.k.a. the linear plot.)
   
2. Creative person is having trouble creating.
   a) Writer has writer’s block.
   b) Painter can’t seem to paint anything good.
   c) Sculptor can’t seem to sculpt anything good.
   d) Creative person’s work is reviled by critics who don’t understand how brilliant it is.
   e) Creative person meets a muse (either one of the nine classical Muses or a more individual muse) and interacts with them, usually by keeping them captive.
3. Visitor to alien planet ignores information about local rules, inadvertently violates them, is punished.
   a)  New diplomat arrives on alien planet, ignores anthropologist’s attempts to explain local rules, is punished.
4. Weird things happen, but it turns out they’re not real.
   a) In the end, it turns out it was all a dream.
   b) In the end, it turns out it was all in virtual reality.
   c) In the end, it turns out the protagonist is insane.
   d) In the end, it turns out the protagonist is writing a novel and the events we’ve seen are part of the novel.
5. An A.I. gets loose on the Net, but the author doesn’t have a clear concept of what it means for software to be “loose on the Net.” (For example, the computer it was on may not be connected to the Net.)

It’s easy to spot the obvious ’sci-fi’ elements in all of those stories but I think it’s equally easy to translate them to whatever genre you write in as well. ‘Visitor to and alien planet’, for example can easily be: ‘the encounter of the Other’ or something similar. The rest as well should “translate” to wordings more relevant for the genre you work within. Note also that neither of these lists are intended to be lists of clichés or simply ‘things to avoid in order to write a good story’.

The next list is one that is far more interesting to me personally but apparently not especially to those who wrote the list. The following are of ‘horror’ stories, again the first five dot points.

The full updated list can be read here: Horror Stories We’ve Seen Too Often

1. Serial killer or vampire stalks and slays victim(s).
   a) The tables are turned at the end. (For example, the intended victim turns out to be a vampire or other powerful supernatural creature.)
   b) The serial killer is insane.
   c) The serial killer is under supernatural influence.
   d) The serial killer was abused as a child.
2. Person is insane, and kills a lot of people because of it.
   a) The insanity is due to supernatural influence.
   b) The insane person does property damage instead of killing people.
3. Protagonist sits around for a while.
   a) In the end, it turns out protagonist is dead.
   b) In the end, it turns out protagonist is a serial killer.
4. Evil creature kills lots of people.
   a) In the end the creature escapes to kill again.
   b) The creature is disguised as something cute.
5. Person sees mysterious things that nobody else can see.
   a) Person has unreasonable dread of a Thing that nobody else can see; in the end the Thing gets the person after all.
   b) Person has bad dreams; they turn out to be real.
   c) In the end, it turns out the person is crazy.
   d) In the end, it turns out someone is drugging the person.

And yet again this list also contains many elements that would go under the specific genre of ’sci-fi’ or related categories to that genre but again that does not necessarily have to mean anything. These lists nevertheless are what the people at SH have seen too often, not what every other fiction publishing magazine or otherwise have seen, yet it is probably worth reading through even though a lot of the points brought up are rather obvious, the idea naturally is of creating something new and interesting and not just another rendering of the same story.

* StrangeHorizons.com is a weekly web-based magazine of and about speculative fiction. The term ’speculative fiction’ refers to what is more commonly known as ’sci-fi’, but which properly embraces science fiction, fantasy, magic realism, slipstream, and a host of sub-genres (excerpt from SH’s ‘about us’ page).