What Are Tropes in Writing? And How to Write Them Properly

If you’ve been following a lot of writing pages lately, you’ve probably heard the term “trope” used a lot. This has been especially big with the rise of romantasy marketing. You often see lots of posts these days on social media with arrows and words like “enemies-to-lovers” and “he falls first” and things like that. In the world of fiction, more officially speaking, tropes are recurring themes, patterns, or story devices that an audience can instantly recognize. They aren’t weaknesses in a story and can be powerful storytelling tools when they are used with intention. Tropes are also not cliches, and this is an important distinction that I’ll discuss throughout this post. Tropes are great because they give readers a sense of familiarity, help set expectations, and allow authors to connect quickly with their audience. Just like any other literary tool though, it’s important to consider how the tropes are handled. So, let’s talk about what tropes are in writing and how you can use them effectively in your next book. 

I will say that you tend to see a lot of reader backlash around tropes because many are afraid that a book is only trying to write for a trope. I think with tropes, there sort of needs to be a bit of a delicate balance around how they are handled. It’s not about just stuffing your book with a checklist, but it’s more about learning how to effectively use and adjust tropes in your writing. 

As an author, I find that tropes can be really helpful in giving you a sort of framework for elements in your story. However, I also think that it’s important for writers to avoid using tropes as a crutch just to fill in the blank spaces in their books. We’ll get into that throughout this post though.

If you’re looking to get started writing a new romantasy book, then be sure to grab my 20 free romantasy writing prompts by signing up below: 

What Are Tropes?

Alright, so first things first, what exactly are tropes in writing? Tropes are, by definition, patterns. They are recognizable story elements that appear across many works of fiction. They’re popular, resonate well with readers, and are sought out after. You’ve probably come across many in your time or have even written some yourself without even realizing that they are actually tropes all along. For example, I wrote a story a few years ago when I was younger and it included the idea of the one-bed in an inn trope. I didn’t even know that was a trope at the time. But as you can see, it’s a pattern that readers and writers frequently identify and write for a reason. 

There are lots of really popular tropes out there like the enemies-to-lovers trope or the reluctant hero trope. How about the found family trope? I talk about writing tropes all the time on my page because there’s just so many of them that readers absolutely love. For instance, I talked about the fated mates trope the other day which has been seeing a steady rise in popularity because of romantasy books these days. 

It’s important to understand that tropes themselves are not bad. In fact, they’re pretty popular with readers and many seek them out. What matters with tropes is how you use them in your own story to create something fresh and engaging. 

Why Tropes Matter in Fiction

Tropes matter a lot in fiction because they carry with them some form of emotional weight. They create anticipation and allow readers to recognize familiar, enjoyable story structures. For instance, when a romance novel begins with two characters who are enemies, readers who love the trope of enemies to lovers are excited because they anticipate a slow-burn connection. 

Tropes can be basically thought of as a promise of sorts and honoring that promise keeps readers satisfied. They also help with your marketing quite a lot. Readers search for them directly when choosing what to read. Romance and romance-related genres tend to see a lot of readers seek out tropes as well. So, by using tropes in your marketing, you can reach your ideal audience much faster. 

Even beyond romance though, you find that tropes matter in things like thrillers or sci-fi. You often find lots of people interested in dystopian novels or in military stories where there’s former soldiers that become mercenaries and things like that. These are all tropes because they are identifiable patterns.

If you’re not sure what exactly you should do to market your next book or you want a bit of a checklist, you can grab my ultimate writer’s marketing checklist to get started: 

For romantasy, I also have an entire framework system called The Ultimate Guide to Writing Romantasy. It’s a 160+ page workbook that helps break down how to write a romantasy book with tons of instructional material and guided worksheets!

Tropes vs Cliches vs Stereotypes

You might have heard some people use the term “cliche” and “stereotype” in reference to tropes but this is actually inaccurate. You see, a trope is a common literary pattern, which is different from a cliche. A cliche is an overused phrase or element that doesn’t really add much value. For instance, if you’re using the misunderstanding trope but the misunderstanding is really shallow. This is a cliche. 

A stereotype is a widely held but oversimplified image or idea of something or someone. These are often associated with a negative connotation, as they are generalizations that don’t really hold much weight. For instance, a stereotype is like saying that all women are carers in the household or that all men like driving pickup trucks. 

A trope is very different from these two things, but you can easily slip into using stereotypes in a trope and making your trope cliched. You want to hit a balance with your trope and be weary of the elements that are going into your writing and what you’re saying to your readers. 

Do You Need to Include Tropes in Fiction?

The answer to that isn’t really clearly yes or clearly no. The thing with tropes is that you can choose to include as many or as little as you want in your story. For instance, you can choose to build a story like this:

• Enemies to lovers
• Slow burn
• He falls first
• Fated mates
• Lone wolf MMC
• Morally gray FMC

As you can see, I just included several tropes in a single story idea. This is something you can do easily. However, you can also choose to literally just write one trope or no tropes at all. Maybe you can invent your own trope, but you’ll need to get other writers to catch onto your trope idea.

Tropes sort of help create an idea of what’s going to be included in your story for readers, especially if they’re searching for that particular trope. For instance, if I really like the idea of a lone wolf main male character, then I might search that up online and find your book because you included that in your tropes.

Tropes vs Archetypes

One thing that’s important to understand is that tropes and archetypes are two different things that may seem like they’re the same. An archetype is basically a structure that helps you build characters. For instance, a popular character archetype is the trickster. This is a character that is known to use deception and is crafty and intelligent.

That might seem like it’s a trope at face value, and I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that. An archetype digs deep into the personality of the character and gives context for their behavior. So, if you have a pure evil villain, that’s an archetype style and digging deep, you’d probably have a backstory that explains why this character is so evil.

A trope is basically a clear pattern while an archetype goes deeper into the context.

Types of Tropes

In literature, you’re going to find that there are a lot of different types of tropes out there. You probably already know quite a good number of tropes yourself, but there are actually sort of sub-categories to tropes out there.

Character Tropes

Character tropes are basically common identifiable patterns that define aspects of a character. This could include the character’s behavior, personality, arc, mood, etc… For instance, you might read a fantasy book where the main character is a brigand who was once a fabled war hero. He’s now become sort of a lone wolf that travels from town to town in search of money. He’s reluctant to interact with others. This is a trope that you often see in things like grimdark fantasy.

Genre Tropes

Tropes can also exist for the overall genre that you’re reading. For instance, you might find that certain elements are almost guaranteed to exist in a genre. In horror, you find lots of tropes like possessed objects, found footage, slashers with a vendetta against everyone, etc… These are tropes that are really common across a lot of horror stories.

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Plot Device Tropes

In plots, you’ll often find lots of tropes as well. These are really ways that a writer can help define elements like how a character changes from the beginning of the story to the midpoint. However, there are also literary tropes that help reveal more about certain characters and what defined them in their past.

Flashbacks are a big trope that you often see in a lot of books. It’s actually one that I very frequently used in my series, The Fallen Age Saga because there are lots of defining moments in the main character’s life that impacted how he behaved in the present.

These aren’t the same as literary tools like similes, metaphors, etc…

How to Use Tropes Properly in Writing

Alright, so now that we have a solid understanding of what tropes are, how do we use them properly? Basically, what can you as a writer do to ensure that your readers enjoy the use of the tropes you’ve picked. Also, how can you ensure that your tropes are done well? 

The secret is pretty much this word: Balance. You need to lean into the emotional core of the trope while avoiding a bit of a lackluster execution. 

1. Understand the Heart of the Trope

Before you write with a trope, you need to ask yourself why this particular trope resonates with you. Oftentimes, the tropes that you’ll be writing are also the tropes that you would choose to read. So, think about why that trope speaks to you as a writer and what use-cases you’ve seen of this trope that worked for you. 

For example, the found family trope is a big one with readers because it appeals to the desire of belonging. So, readers who like to belong to groups or feel like they enjoy connecting with other people may find more heart in the found family trope than others. 

Once you understand the heart of the trope that you’ve chosen to write, you can write the trope in a way that connects deeply with your readers. 

2. Subvert Expectations

The next thing to consider when you’re writing a trope is to try and subvert expectations. Sure, readers love tropes and the familiarity that comes with them, but they also want surprises. Try taking a trope that you love and turn it a bit on its head, so-to-speak. For instance, what if the protagonist just outright rejects their role entirely? What if the enemies remain enemies even as they fall in love? 

You can find what tropes you enjoy and list them on a piece of paper and then start jotting down ideas on ways you can add a bit of a more original spin to them. 

For instance, another really popular trope is the chosen one trope. The chosen one has been done a lot (I talked about why I don’t think it’s a bad trope in another post). The thing is, a lot of readers have grown a bit weary of the chosen one trope. So, you can take the idea of the chosen one and subvert it. For instance, maybe the chosen one refrains from engaging in their destiny and thus triggers an apocalyptic event in the story. Now it’s up to another character to save the world. That’s a good way to subvert it! 

3. Add Layers of Originality

The next thing that you want to think about when it comes to how to use tropes effectively in writing is to add layers of originality. You can try to blend multiple tropes together or you can try to infuse a trope with your own original world building. For instance, maybe the mentor character in your fantasy story is an unreliable character or is morally gray. You might have a forbidden romance between different magical species instead of just different families. 

Throwing in these sorts of original elements is a great way to ensure that your tropes are engaging. This way, you’re also enhancing your story because your readers can get a glimpse at what exactly you like to do as the writer and not just what works for the trope. 

4. Avoid Stereotypes

One of the reasons why tropes often have a bad rep is because they are confused with stereotypes and cliches. As we discussed earlier in this post, tropes are not the same as cliches and stereotypes. However, tropes can be reduced to these things without proper consideration. 

The idea of the damsel in distress without agency or the magical minority sidekick are really outdated portrayals. Most readers these days don’t really want to read a story about a helpless female protagonist who doesn’t ever make decisions on her own.

Instead of using these sorts of stereotypical portrayals and negative cliches, ensure that your characters and the elements of your story are complex and engaging. You want to build your trope into the story properly. 

5. Remember Reader Expectations

Another thing you need to consider is that you need to remember the expectations of your readers. In romance, you find popular setups like fake dating and second chance or friends to lovers. Readers are looking for these tropes and if you’re marketing your book as hitting that mark and it doesn’t really portray the trope accurately, then readers may feel a bit disappointed. You don’t need to really change the trope entirely to deliver an original experience. 

Let’s look at sci-fi for instance. Time travel is one of the biggest tropes in sci-fi ever, but there are still so many stories that continue to use it to this day. Each writer’s interpretation and take on a popular trope is going to be original at the end of the day. 

Embrace the tropes fully if you want to, but do so with care. Don’t forget that your readers are still going to expect certain elements if you promise a particular trope. 

Examples of Popular Tropes Across Different Genres

Romance

Popular romance tropes include:

• Enemies to lovers
• Fake dating/marriage
• Forbidden love
• Friends to lovers
• Fated mates
• He falls first
• Morally gray MMC
• Second chance
• Arranged marriage
• Office romance

Fantasy

Popular tropes in fantasy include:

• The chosen one
• Found family
• Evil mentor
• The Hero’s Quest
• Antihero mercenaries
• Disgraced knight
• Dragons. Lots of dragons.
• The orphan MC
• The surprise heir to the throne

Sci-Fi

Popular tropes in science fiction include:

• First contact
• Alien warfare
• Dystopian rebels
• Oppressive governments
• Time travel
• Surveillance
• Robot takeovers
• Brothers in arms (military sci-fi especially)

Mystery/Thriller

Popular tropes in the mystery and thriller genres are often:

• Unreliable narrator
• Last-minute twist
• Amateur detective
• “They all did it” (think Agatha Christie)
• The disgruntled former detective
• Corruption in power
• The agent on the run
• Mercenary squads

As you can see, a lot of these tropes exist in so many books out there. You can even go on Netflix and scroll through different genres and see just how many of these tropes exist. They’re popular, it’s just how you use them that matters. 

Trope Case Study: Early 2000s TV Shows

I’ve been rewatching a ton of early 2000s shows like House MD, The Mentalist, Dexter, Bones, etc… and you tend to notice that there is actually a really big trope that exists in a ton of shows from that era. That trope is the Sherlock-style main character that usually solves some form of a mystery. For House MD, he’s like a medical sherlock. Meanwhile, in Bones, Dr. Temperance is a forensic sherlock. The main character is also usually a bit antisocial, acts out of standard norms, or has some sort of defining personality trait that makes them stand out compared to the others. Main characters from this era of TV also tended to have a dark history or a sad past.

As you can see, this is an example of a popular trope: The Sherlockesque main character. We all know Sherlock and we all understand the pattern of this archetype, and using this character is a trope that was popular for a long time. It resonated with audiences and it stuck well.

Conclusion

Tropes, in a way, are sort of like the building blocks of writing when they’re handled well. If you write a trope into your story, you want to ensure that you are embracing it as a tool to connect with your readers. You don’t want to avoid tropes fully out of fear, but you don’t want to write them the same way entirely as someone else. The idea of a trope is to showcase a familiar pattern to your readers but you want to do it in a unique way. 

By learning to write tropes effectively in your writing, you’ll actually find that your stories are enhanced. Just don’t treat a trope like a checklist item that you have to include in your book. For example, just because you’re writing romantasy doesn’t mean it has to be enemies to lovers. You can write fated mates or friends to lovers too. 

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