Story Tropes Are Not Your Enemy
Norms and conventions are not always bad
So many people think we should avoid tropes like the plague.
Some folks even delight in ripping apart an otherwise enjoyable story, by pointing out all the tropes in them. And they say that the story is unoriginal and not worth reading.
But guess what? Even our real life is riddled with tropes. Just in my own life, I can see these recurring people and events:
- Jerks with a heart of gold
- The rival love interest
- People who rigidly stick to their principles even when it hurts others
- People who choose to save others, even at the cost of breaking some principles
- Unrequited love
- Brains versus brawn
- Finding a third solution when faced with a dilemma
The above all contain links to tropes on TvTropes, a wiki that collects tons of story tropes. Many books, movies, shows, comics, and other fiction works, have their own page on this website with a list of their tropes.
In fact, many trope pages even list real-life examples, such as celebrity news and current affairs. This highlights that tropes are indeed everywhere, in both fiction and reality.
