Not to be Cliché
If I told you that a book had Enemies to Lovers and Forced Proximity, I bet you know what I’m referring to and you might even be begging me for the title. These keywords have become popular tropes in recent years. Tropes are not a new concept. In fact, they’ve been used in media since the ancient Epic Hero, but the idea only got a title and definition around the 16th century. Nowadays, most of the entertainment we consume is filled with tropes, but what’s the point of tropes and how can a writer use them to their advantage?
By definition, a trope is merely a plot device with a recurring theme used to catch a reader’s attention by giving them something they’re already familiar with. If a trope becomes overused, it becomes a cliché. Think about certain popular trends and many tropes become obvious because they’re often intertwined. The Chosen One and Love Triangle were popular tropes in the early 2000s, intertwining with the influx of Fantasy and Dystopian Young Adult novels. Did a few series come to mind?
When tropes are used, novels can have a wider range of marketability through reader recognition. The downside is that some novels can feel like stale trope bread, falling more into cliché category, or become too niche for a larger audience. Sometimes, this works to a book’s advantage as certain subgenres of Romance thrive in their little niche corners; however, it’s a risk all the same.
Most writers don’t go into writing a novel with specific tropes in mind, or at least they don’t think they do. When brainstorming your main characters that fall in love, is one of them brooding and filled with angst while the other wouldn’t harm a fly? Congratulations, you have GrumpyxSunshine! The main thing about including tropes in your writing is to not let them consume or overwhelm you. Identify which tropes you want to use, but consider shifting the expectation with them. This can be subverting the gender roles, like with GrumpyxSunshine maybe a woman is the Grumpy and a man is the Sunshine, or twisting the result entirely, like the Grumpy is actually also a Sunshine all along.
My favorite resource to research tropes is the website www.tvtropes.org that contains an entire array of tropes to look into. Don’t be dismayed by the title though! Tropes are for all forms of media and each genre in media has tropes associated with it. For example, an Action novel or film might feature Always a Bigger Fish, Inevitable Waterfall, and/or The Radio Dies First. Again, the point of tropes is for reader/viewer recognition. If it looks like a trope and talks like a trope, then it’s a cliché. I’m just kidding. It's still a trope.
So, how can writers use tropes to better their writing? Essentially, don’t feel like you have to broadcast every single trope you plan to use. If you write a character that looks like a Femme Fatale but plan to give her a deeper story arc, you don’t have to advertise that on the back of the book. A wonderful part of tropes is the satisfaction of finding them in media when you’re not expecting them or, even further, to be surprised when a trope is used in a new and innovative way. It’s hard to feel like what you’re writing is unique when everyone is always saying that nothing can be unique anymore. Well, a trope doesn’t have to be unique for you to make it your own.
Originally published under R.L. Martin
Originally Published Feb. 9th, 2023
Updated Aug. 24th, 2025
