Any writer with a basic knowledge of narrative theory will tell you that there are only seven basic story plots.* Similarly, no matter how original and creative you are as a blogger, the odds are that you will eventually resort to one of a number of standard post types.

Here are 15 of the most common examples of posts written by parent bloggers. Do you recognise any of the following?

1. You know you’re a parent/blogger/parent blogger when …

2. Ten things you will only have done if you’re a parent/blogger/parent blogger.

3. A ‘back to school’ or ‘first day at school’ post, including a photo in full school uniform standing in front of your front door/fireplace/wardrobe.

4. Help! I’ve got writer’s block and here’s a post about the fact that I have writer’s block and how I’m working through it.

5. A post about your disillusionment with blogging and how it’s become too much like a job but, after careful consideration, you’ve decided to keep going anyway.

6. Ten things you didn’t know about me (and probably didn’t want to know).

7. Why I write/blog.

8. How excited/worried you are about going to your first blogging conference.

9. How encouraged/discouraged you are after coming back from your first blogging conference.

10. A nostalgic post comparing how different/better/worse things were when you were a child versus how they are today.

11. A post about your summer holidays, complete with 518 photos.

12. A blogging tips post.

13. A wry post about how Valentine’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries or Christmas aren’t how they used to be before kids.

14. Sleep deprivation.

15. A post about all the posts a blogger will eventually end up writing.

Oh, hang on …

By my count, I’ve done 11 – although some of these I have written multiple times in slightly different ways. So that gives me at least four more posts to add to my list!

What about you? How many of the above have you written?

* The seven basic plots are: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy and finally Rebirth. Pretty much any book or film can be categorised as a combination of one or more of these.

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