Apparently every story that has, or will be, ever written has one of only six plot lines around which varying edifices of narrative are constructed. Although there are some minor variations depending on the source, Christopher Booker’s list seems to have stood up well and been widely accepted. His list of the 6 plot-lines are:

1. Rags to Riches: A character starts with nothing and gradually achieves great fortune and happiness. 

2. Riches to Rags (Tragedy): A character who is already fortunate experiences a significant fall from good fortune, often ending in ruin. 

3. Icarus: A character rises to a position of great height, only to fall from grace, often due to their own hubris, similar to the mythological figure Icarus flying too close to the sun. 

4. Man in a Hole: A character experiences a fall into a bad situation but then manages to climb out, achieving a rise. 

5. Cinderella: A character experiences an initial rise in fortune, then a subsequent fall, followed by a final rise that leads to happiness, like the fairy tale. 

6. Oedipus: A character begins in a fallen state, experiences a rise, but ultimately falls again, often due to inescapable fate or tragic flaws, mirroring Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex. 

Having wracked my mind for a good month I can see his point. And I can’t see any plot-lines, when reduced to the ultimate, that do not fit into these.

Can you?