Every Story In History Follows One Of These Central Plots

Stories can be simple or complex – and a good narrative hook can live with people for a long time. Think of the enduring quality of a fairy tale, or a memorable story in pop culture. As I’ve said in the past, good storytelling is at the core of effective social media and marketing.

An article from BBC discusses a recent analysis of stories that concludes something fascinating – at their core, all stories are essentially one of six types.

What are the six types, you ask?

1. Rags to riches – a steady rise from bad to good fortune.
2. Riches to rags – a tragedy
3. Icarus – a rise, then a fall in fortune
4. Oedipus – a fall, a rise, then a fall again
5. Cinderella – rise, fall, rise
6. Man in a hole – fall, rise

In order for a plot to thicken, or to exist in any meaningful way, compelling characters and an emotionally relatable context need to be built. People have to care about a story’s arc before they invest emotion in figuring out what happens next.

The more emotionally compelling your stories are, the more your audience and customers will pay attention. ASTRALCOM can help you bring strong stories into all of your social media and marketing channels.