There Are Only Seven Stories in The World

The first of the seven story types is pretty much exactly what you'd assume from its name.

It is the triumph (usually of an underdog), over a monster. The monster can be an actual monster, as in the case of David and Goliath, or the monster may take a more human form, such as 'Buffalo Bill' in The Silence of The Lambs.

In either case, in an 'overcoming the monster' story arc, the hero or heroine will almost always end up in direct combat with the monster and, of course, emerge victorious. Think every Bond movie.

'Rags to riches' is another fairly self-explanatory story archetype. The arc of the plot follows a hero or heroine from poverty to wealth. In some case, this transformation is literal, as is the case in Cinderella. However, in other instances the 'wealth' a protagonist achieves may be of a slightly different nature, such as self-discovery or enlightenment, like in Willy Russell's Educating Rita.

In either instance, the protagonist, who is always a put-upon, unfairly treated 'good guy', is plucked from obscurity and given what they deserve, before losing it (temporarily), so they can truly appreciate it.

And, of course, they may have to defeat a villain or two along the way.

'The quest' is a very common story type among Hollywood movies, as it gives our hero or heroine something that they must get or achieve.

He or she learns that there is some 'grand prize' (which may be literal treasure or a more figurative use of the term), and will go in search of it. The prize, which Alfred Hitchcock dubbed 'the MacGuffin', is the thing that everybody wants.

As it happens though, what form the treasure or prize takes is not as important as what our protagonists will learn along the way.

Sometimes, like in The Lord of The Rings, our hero is charged with an important duty. And often, the hero or heroine in a 'quest' story must also defeat others searching for the MacGuffin or evil forces that guard it.

This story type is not quite so easy to define thanks to our modern perception of a comedy. 'Comedy' in terms of a story archetype, doesn't necessarily mean a tale that is funny - although, it might be. 

Here, we're talking about Aristotle's definition of comedy, which he deemed to be showing people as worse than they are (the opposite of tragedy, which shows people as better than they are).

In terms of classic 'comedy' plots, the characters are thrust into a state of confusion, this may be because they're somewhere strange and unusual, but, often, it involves disguise and deception, which fuel the bewilderment.

Sometimes, however (and certainly in more modern examples of 'comedy' stories), it's just down to plain old misunderstanding. 

Of course, in the end, everything is straightened out and, usually, it's a happy revelation for our protagonists.

Essentially, yes. Every movie, novel, play or short story that has ever existed, or will ever exist, will fit into one of the seven basic story plots. In fact, some would say the number of plots is even smaller, a 'quest' and 'voyage and return', for instance, are so similar that perhaps they could be morphed into one.

In any case, the problem is, as with any categorization, no matter how many pigeon holes you have, there are some stories that refuse to fit neatly into just one.

For example, I was considering adding Bedknobs and Broomsticks to the 'overcoming the monster' story type, because Miss. Price, Mr. Brown and the kids successfully ward off the invading Nazi's. However, they also go on a 'quest' to find the Star of Astoroth. And, of course, Eglantine Price undergoes something of a 'rebirth' in as far as her staunch desire to live a solitary life is concerned. 

So, categorizing plots into seven basic archetypes isn't always simple. But then, placing any kind of  fiction in one category has never been easy. Many of Shakespeare's plays, for instance, don't quite belong in their three genres: tragedy, comedy and history.

Nevertheless, all of your favorite stories come from the same seven basic plots. So, at least as far as writing fiction goes, there really is nothing new under the sun.