The 10 Worst Writing Tropes You Need to Avoid
We’re sick of stories about the evil seductress and the orphan!
Originality is difficult. At times, it feels like everything has been written. Yet with nearly two millennium of stories being told in our society, we aren’t even close to running out of ideas.
Because we have an infinite well of creativity written into our cultural genes, there’s no reason we should cling to the overused tropes of modern literature. Originality is the defining characteristic of a great story, after all. As a reader I’m tired of seeing the same story on thousands of pages, rebranded with a different title, setting, and character names.
Without further ado, I present the ten worst story tropes you should avoid at all costs.
The Chosen One
Every story has a Chosen One. They’re young, homegrown good ol’ boys who never realize they have a gift. That is, until the world is about to end. Then they can suddenly slay dragons and breathe fire. This trope is as old as time, and frankly, far too boring.
Fix the trope: your story should never be predictable. If you’re following this trope, do some good and kill the protagonist or something. Just change it up for once.
