Humans like consistency and are drawn to familiarity. That’s why there are so many tropes in literature. But what are tropes? And should you use them?
What Are Tropes?
Tropes are figures of speech, themes, images, characters or plot elements that are used frequently across media. There are different types of tropes (literary, genre/plot and character, to name a few) that authors use to explain aspects of their writing. What makes something a trope is its repetitive use, either over multiple novels by one author or by multiple authors. These tropes are so commonplace that we recognise them instantly.
Literary Devices as Tropes
Literary devices, such as metaphors, oxymorons, hyperbole or irony, are tropes because we see them frequently. For instance, how many times have you heard somebody called an early bird or a night owl? Or somebody say they are so hungry they could eat a horse? When somebody says these phrases, we instantly know what they mean, and it’s because these are in common parlance that they are tropes.
Character Tropes
Think of your damsel in distress or your knight in shining armour. I’ll bet when I said that you knew exactly what I meant and could even name a few characters that fall into one of these character tropes. We see them time and again in fiction, making them tropes.
Plot Tropes
Tropes can feature across an entire plot too. One of the most common tropes in literature is the enemies-to-lovers trope. It has been a popular trope throughout the history of literature, with Jane Austen being its biggest proponent.
The Differences Between Tropes and Other Literary Terms
I think it is important to distinguish tropes from other literary terms. Tropes are not the same thing as plagiarism, cliché and archetypes.
Plagiarism is simply using another writer’s ideas verbatim and not crediting that author. Tropes are different because they’re so common that no one can take credit for the idea.
Clichés are tired, stale or boring tropes. This can be subjective because people have different ideas of what constitutes a cliché. For example, as white as a ghost.
Tropes can be unique to an individual author (for example, Philippa Gregory very often writes about women in power), or they can be more widespread, but archetypes are universal. Archetypes are found in (nearly) all human cultures; they’re an expression of universal human desires and experiences. They never get old because they’re too meaningful to us. For example, the damsel in distress.
Should You Use Tropes in Your Novel?
Tropes have been given a bad name recently, but this reputation might be undeserved. The actual issue is when tropes are overused, but using tropes sparingly and appropriately can actually be very helpful in your writing. As Christopher Dean says,
Tropes are used as a shorthand to explain complicated things. For example, Light Speed is used to quickly explain a complicated way of travelling through space. If you do this, you don’t have to waste words trying to educate your reader when you want to get on with the plot.
We instantly and subconsciously recognise tropes, so smart writers learn to exploit them in ways that benefit their writing.
Having said that, there is one trope you should pretty much always avoid is the ‘bury you gays’ trope. The bury your gays trope sees LGBTQ+ characters dying far more frequently than straight and cis-gendered characters. Today, this is not appropriate, and, so, if you have LGBTQ+ characters, carefully consider whether you should kill them off.
Summary
Tropes are figures of speech, themes, images, characters and plots that are used across different types of media. Tropes are not the same thing as plagiarism and clichés, but they overlap with archetypes. They have developed a bad reputation, but there’s no reason to avoid them completely. The only one you should avoid is the bury your gays trope. Other than that, tropes can enhance your writing, and you should feel free to use them as you see fit.
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