Summary

Complicated stuff can stem from a handful of common roots. Understanding those common roots can be more important than trying to wrap your head around complexity. To show you what I mean, let me tell you a story about stories. Tens of millions of fictional stories have been published, written by authors of every age, culture, and life experience that exists. Most never knew each other or read each other’s work. Their stories range from prehistoric battles to science fiction. Stories are perhaps the most diverse things our imaginations have ever created. But all of these stories – every story, according to author Christopher Booker – take shape in remarkably similar ways. “There are a small number of plots which are so fundamental to the way we tell stories that it is virtually impossible for any storyteller ever entirely to break away from them,” Booker writes. He argues only seven plots exist in the history of fictional storytelling: 1. Overcoming Monsters, 2. Rags to Riches, 3. The Quest, 4. Voyage and Return,...