Meg North - The 9 Master Plots for Bestsellers & Blockbusters

Being a great writer is a lot like being a great chef. Sure, youve got to have some passion for cooking, but a lot of it comes from practice, hard work, and great tools like sharpened knives, well-made cookware, and a tested recipe that works.

As a writer, some of your necessary tools are a word processor, a thesaurus, and a basic understanding of how a story is constructed. You wouldnt serve a dinner party without a few excellent recipes to help you likewise, to draft 300 pages for a story, youve got to have an excellent writing recipe to follow.

Thats where the amazing 9 Plots come in. They are a storys basic how-to manual, like a recipe for a dish. The 9 Plots each contain a list of ingredients like a Hero, a Villain, and other characters. They also have step-by-step instructions to follow, which is the Three-Act structure. Act One is the beginning of your story, Act Two is the middle, and Act Three is the end.

Just like a chef, you can flavor and season your storys plot however you like. Customize it with a new genre twist, a unique Hero, or an unexpected Villain. Work within the 9 Plots to make them your own. Youll have a lot of fun creating new stories and revitalizing old ones. You can use the 9 Plots in any type of creative writing, from a short story to a novel to a play to a screenplay.

I use the 9 Plots with all of my own stories. I have drastically cut down on the amount of brainstorming time and it makes the difficult process of structuring novels a lot easier. Once I have chosen the Main Plot I want to use from the 9 Plots, then its time to custom-tailor the plot to the story I want to tell. When Im writing about the Civil War, naturally Ill use Epic War! A love story can be Happy Love or Doomed Love. Utopia/Dystopia fascinates me with its epic themes of survival and self-reliance. When I go to the movies, though, Im usually in the mood for Fantasy Adventure!

Once youve met the 9 Plots, youll be amazed at how common they are. What youll discover and this is so cool is that every story youve ever read and film youve ever seen features at least one of the 9 Plots! They are based on the human experience, historical occurrences, ancient myths, and centuries of storytelling. They are timeless and they work.

Why do they work?

Its because theyre based on universal Hero wants. A Hero wants something and theyll overcome amazing obstacles, nasty characters, forces of nature, and twists of fate to get it. Character drives plot, not the other way around. Figure out what your Hero wants, and youll figure out which of the 9 Plots youre using.

The 9 Plots are useful no matter what genre you write: comedy, action-adventure, horror, romance, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, or historical/Western. Ive included plenty of book and film examples to help you personalize your plot to your genre.

In the following chapters, youll meet each of the 9 Plots. Im sure youll recognize at least one in your own work. Try a different one on for size, or become a master at just one. Read the book examples and watch the recommended films. See what other writers are doing with the 9 Plots. What twists have they added? How was the Hero? Was the Villain bad enough? What about the pacing? You can easily apply these questions to your own work and become a better writer in the process.

The more deeply you understand your Heros want behind the 9 Plots, the better a writer youll become. Your bestsellers and blockbusters will provide new examples for future writers to learn from. Writing is a craft, like cooking, to be practiced often as an emotionally satisfying creative process. Once youve got a great tool, youre ready to make something amazing.

So, lets take a peek at the amazing recipes behind the 9 Plots. What will you practice crafting today?