Trope-tastic

Tropes are conventions, or familiar plot lines or set-ups, that are instantly recognizable to readers, because we’ve seen them so often that they’ve become commonplace. They’re recurring themes that work as a ‘shorthand’ to help authors, readers and booksellers identify what a story is about. 

Aren’t tropes a bad thing? 

 I’ve heard a lot of writing advice (mostly from literary writers) that tropes should be avoided, as if they’re somehow a bad thing. That might be true for literary fiction, but in genre fiction tropes are unavoidable. Yes, it's true that tropes can seem cliched, but every genre has its own tropes, and it would be impossible to write without them. What would a suspense story be without the trope of the ‘ticking time bomb’? What would a cosy paranormal mystery be withiut the friendly ghost or amateur sleuth? Not only are tropes unavoidable in genre fiction, but they’re actually a good thing! 

Why are tropes important? 

Tropes are excellent marketing tools. Look at almost any book description and you’ll see them used as a quick way to convey the book’s contents. We all recognise what a Cinderella story will be about, or a best friend’s brother story. And for many readers, a favourite trope is enough to make them auto-buy a book! 

In Romances with limited word counts, tropes are a quick way to introduce a concept to readers. We’re familiar with the concept of fake engagement, forced proximity, secret baby or friends to lovers tropes, so we don’t need to have every detail explained to us. Harlequin even uses tropes in their titles as a quick guide to identifying the type of story you'll find between the covers. 

The other reason that tropes are a good thing is that they work. In the words of LiteraryTerms.net, “Tropes get used again and again because they speak to us on some deep level and connect with our experiences, fear, and hopes.”

Click here for a lengthy list of romance tropes.

As a reader, what are your favourite romance tropes?

Image by Bingo Naranjo from Pixabay

Meet Our 2021 ROSACon Speakers: Harry Wallett

Harry Wallett is the Founder and Managing Director of Relay Publishing based in the UK. Combining his entrepreneurial background with a love of great stories, Harry founded Relay in 2013 as a fresh way to create and publish books. He oversees the creative direction of the company and works to develop an excellent collaborative environment for the Relay team to thrive within. When he isn’t drawing up Relay’s next title, he can be found on the basketball court or trying to catch up with Tamar’s ever-growing list of countries to visit.

Don't miss his presentation on Ghostwriting at ROSACon 2021! Book your tickets today! 

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Meet Our 2021 ROSACon Speakers: Therese Beharrie

 

Therese Beharrie is a South African romance author of several acclaimed novels, including her One Day to Forever series. She takes pride in writing diverse characters and settings, and her books are often recommended for their heart and banter. She lives in Cape Town with her husband, her inspiration for every hero, and two adorable baby boys. You can follow her on social media or visit her at theresebeharrie.com.

Don't miss her presentation Writing Category Romance at ROSACon 2021! Book your tickets today! 

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Blue Sky Thinking - A Cure for Writer's Block?

 Have you ever sat down at your manuscript and had no idea where to start or where to go next?

         Don’t worry. We’ve all been there: staring out of the window, doom scrolling through our social media or making copious cups of tea.

 

 But Blue Sky Thinking can help. Blue Sky Thinking can get you over your writer’s block and into the next scene.

 

Blue Sky Thinking is defined as ‘creative ideas that are not limited by current thinking or beliefs’ In other words, it is the kind of thinking that is out of the box, perhaps generating ideas that might be considered absurd.

 

Children are better at Blue Sky Thinking than adults. They will draw a picture of a castle on the back of a truck, or mole’s home underground with electricity and water. What about adults?

 

Unfortunately we realise our ideas and words have consequences.  What we say or write affects the way people see us, think of us and treat us. We become self-conscious and we start judging our ideas before they have had a chance to breathe life.

 

 And then, we curate them so fast, we barely even see them before we crush them. As writers we can end up sitting, staring at a blank page or a screen, with nothing.

 

 Or, we may find ourselves agonising over and editing words we have written, as we write. We edit and write at the same time until our creative flow grinds to a halt. We can take years to finish a book or we don’t finish it at all.

 

If you apply Blue Sky Thinking to your writing process, you can prevent this from happening. You will need to put your editor self on hold, only your writer self will be allowed at your desk.  Tell yourself that, in the writing process. your ideas have no limits. There will be no judgement and no consequences. (That will only come during the editing process.)

 

Write all your ideas for your story down, however crazy, wild, silly and ridiculous they might be. Write them down. Fill the page with insanity, absurdity, bizarre character traits, leaps of coincidence, well used tropes, suspension of disbelief and incongruent plot twists. This is Blue Sky Thinking, where the sky is the limit because there is no limit. This is where your ideas give birth to more ideas, until you have so many ideas that there will be one that fits your story, or it will fit the direction your story is taking, or it will lead your story in an amazing direction or it will spark the beginning of a new story.

 

I have found the less I work on a book, or the longer time I leave between writing sessions, or the more I try to edit the existing work, the more difficult the whole process is. But if I let my ideas flow, without necessarily knowing where they are going, then my existing ideas grow, and more new ideas come to me.

 

         So if you’re stuck in a rut and don’t know the way out, hang up your editorial hat. Look out the window at the sky and tell yourself there is no judgement at your desk. Let your ideas beget ideas.  Apply Blue Sky Thinking and there will be no limit to your creative process.