how on earth did I miss this thread over the course of 6 years?
I would encourage anyone interested not only in writing, but in the "architecture" of how stories are built (what the components or building blocks that are used to build the story are and what they mean, why they are put together the way they are, why they work or don't work and what can make a compelling story that resonates with people) to check out the works of Joseph Campbell.
A comparative mythologist (job title lol), Campbell studied myths from all over the world and from throughout almost all of man's written history. He discussed the similarities found in these stories from seemingly disparate cultures, separated by either geography or time, and wondered where the commonality he found in them sprung from.
Here's the first episode in a 6 episode series talking about this shit with Bill Moyers. It's an hour long, but if this is the kind of thing you're into, that time will fly by and the other episodes are available on youtube for free.
Campbell's work serves as a template for many successful hollywood writers (George Lucas, Dan Harmon, Suzanne Collins, the Wachowski..... sisters?). A quick search of "Joseph Campbell the hero's journey" will bring up endless summations and applications of what he taught, but among the best summations I've seen is from Christopher Vogler. he's got a book out about the Campbell method and scripts/screenplays, but here he boils it down to like 10 minutes.