Here are a few different story arcs that you can play with as you prepare and improve your sales content for customers:
1. Man in Hole
A character’s doing fine, gets herself into a huge problem, and must overcome it. They end up better than they started.
“You see this story again and again,” Vonnegut says. “People love it, and it is not copyrighted.”
Example — Die Hard.
2. Boy Meets Girl
The protagonist finds something wonderful (usually love), loses it, and then goes on a journey to get it back again.
Example — The Proposal.
3. From Bad to Worse (Kafkaesque)
The protagonist starts off bad but things manage to get worse from there. Sometimes, you turn into a bug.
Example — Metamorphosis.
4. Which Way is Up? (The Complicated One)
The character(s) goes through a series of seemingly random ups and downs. Often, the overall line slopes up despite the constant zigzag.
Example — Game of Thrones.
5. Creation Story
This represents the idea of coming out of chaos and moving toward order and happiness. The shape slopes upwards but isn’t common in western culture.
Example — The Lion King.
6. Old Testament
Characterized by cycles of good fortune and bad fortune, but typically ends in a downward direction. Think of it as a series of ups and downs that finally go down.
Example — No Country for Old Men.
7. New Testament
The main character has progressively better fortune until, one day, something horrible happens. Then they have to figure out how to find “off the chart bliss.”
Example — Shawshank Redemption.
8. Cinderella (Rags-to-Riches)