Types
of Modern Fiction Plots
Guest Columnist: Lucy Adams
Have
you ever thought about the perspectives of the development
of new fantastic ideas? I bet you did, and therefore, you
know how complicated the whole process is and how hard it
is to come up with something original and unique, something
that was never used before.
That’s
why I want to share with you the ideas that have already been
used by both great and mediocre authors. I do not call you
to copy one of them, but I hope this list will help you to
think out of the box and finally, come up with a unique cash-making
idea!
#1
Immortality
From
time to time, I read fiction based on immortal heroes and
villains. Or the notorious immortality is the object of desire
of the conflicting parties. One of the most common dramatic
motifs here is the opposition between the immortal hero and
the mortal world or a strong desire to be rid of his burden.
Examples:
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny, The Baroque Cycle by Neal
Stephenson
#2
Vampires
Cold-blooded
bloodsuckers that hate sunlight, crucifixes, and garlic, have
long been regulars at the bookshelves. For many decades, the
reader admires horror adventures of the night murderers, while
the writers continue to exploit the subject, offering numerous
options from romantic women's stories to urban fantasy and
apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic fiction.
Unfortunately,
there are so many books about vampires that it’s almost
impossible to come up with something original. There is always
a serious risk that the new book will drown in the bottomless
abyss of bloody sagas.
Examples:
The Scar by China Miéville, I Am Legend by Richard
Matheson
#3
The Invasion of Aliens
This
is a quite interesting but very clichéd theme. Of course,
the starting point is the famous "War of the Worlds"
by H.G. Wells. By and large, this theme lies at the core of
any work about the war where one nation attacks another one’s
territory. This kind of stories is a ready-made basis for
a sci-fi thriller of any direction and entourage.
Examples:
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
#4
Genetic Experiments and Mutations
That’s
the subject that is covered by a huge number of authors, but
which, nevertheless, still carries significant potential.
The topic managed to produce numerous comics, films and books
about superheroes – these all exists already for more
than half a century and will continue to grow. Undoubtedly,
this niche is one of the primary motives in the development
of modern prose fiction.
Examples:
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Dune by Frank Herbert
#5
The Agreement with the Evil
Here
all is quite simple and transparent: our hero, a man possessed
of some strong desire (to become rich or successful, to save
a loved one), but do not have objective possibilities to carry
it out, makes a deal with the dark forces. Of course, he is
not aware of the seriousness of the situation, but he will
need to pay the bills, whether he likes it or not. In the
end, the protagonist becomes a victim.
This plot is primarily interested due to the conflict of parties:
it is always intriguing how the debtor will extricate himself
from a difficult situation, where his life is at stake.
Examples:
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
#6 Life after Death
The topic
lies at the borders of prose fiction, thrillers, and horror.
There are quite a lot of variations you can use, from the
resurrection of any of the characters to their misadventures
in the afterlife. When choosing this direction, I recommend
you always to ask yourself whether these fantastic assumptions
are necessary for the expression of the main idea of the work.
Are you sure you want someone to be resurrected? What this
will help to convey to the readers?
Examples:
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
#7 Inventions and Scientific Research
This
is another endless bunch of ideas that will give authors food
for thought for centuries. After all, we can’t stop
the technological progress. Every year there appears something
new, and authors’ imagination progresses as well! New
inventions give birth to new stories and sometimes even new
areas in the literature. I believe this direction has a very
high potential.
Examples:
Orphans of the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
#8
Artificial Intelligence
This
niche is a logical extension of the previous one. However,
stories about robots, cyborgs, and other artificial intelligence
have become so popular that they now represent a separate
direction. But what will happen when smart mechanisms become
an integral part of our everyday life?
Such
stories carry a very interesting dramatic potential. The relationship
between endowed with reason robots and people is a fertile
soil for artistic conflicts.
Examples: Hyperion by Dan Simmons
#9
Quest
So it
turns out that the quest is the most common and probably the
most successful idea of all times, starting from the myths
of the ancient world with their search for the Golden Fleece
and ending with a brilliant contemporary fiction.
In general,
the quest plot is very close to the folk tales. There, too,
the basis of the action is the search for the missing or a
difficult and perilous trip to distant lands for a certain
artifact. So I won’t be mistaken if say that quests
will inspire new generations of readers for many more years.
Moreover, they are perfectly combined with any other fantastic
assumptions.
Examples:
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien
#10
The Messiah
What
about the plot based on a man destined to save the world?
The main feature is that the construction of the plot around
the Messiah almost always puts the narrative into the category
of epic. After all, we cannot limit ourselves to a simple
description of how the Savior spilled coffee on himself at
breakfast?. The presence of the Savior required much more
praise! So be sure to carefully consider all nuances before
undertaking such a plot.
Examples:
Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
—————
Lucy
Adams is a blogger from BuzzEssay, a home
for college
essays for students. Feel free to share your intriguing
ideas with Lucy and get a high-quality paper in return. She’s
very responsive and open-hearted, so be sure, you’ll
get a fast and grounded response to each and every request.
Lucy is a generalist, and she never limits herself to covering
narrowly-focused themes.
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