Are Tropes That Important? Social media seems to think so

Many accounts on social media are talking about tropes these days, and I don’t see what the fuss is about. Know your genre’s tropes, they say, talk about them on social media, label your book with these all-important descriptors.

I’ve noticed the emergence of trope talk for months now, and I just want to say, “All right already. We get it. Tropes are having their moment in the limelight.”

But are they really that important? While I am not advising writers avoid or shun the tropes in their book’s genre, I’m also not encouraging them to indulge themselves. Tell your story. Use your imagination. Attempt to be original. Don’t cram a bunch of popular tropes into your story.

Isn’t that at least part of what good storytelling is all about—giving the reader something fresh and true and interesting?

It's true that many readers seem to want more of the same, and including the genre's tropes in your book is one way to do that.

Maybe it’s my literary fiction background rearing its head, but I don’t advise anyone to figure out how they can fit another trope into their book. Just like I don't advise anyone to write in a particular genre simply because it's enjoying a moment of popularity.

TROPES ARE INEVITABLE
Whether you plan to or not, you will undoubtedly use tropes in your story. Every genre has them.

The romance genre serves as a good example. While the genre’s spectrum is quite broad, its tropes are well-known: For instance, the story should end happily. The main character must have their happily-ever-after. Another example is the meet-cute. The main couple must meet in a memorable (cute) way. Other popular romance tropes include friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, opposites attract, and forbidden love.

My problem with the booming trope trend, I suppose, is the assumption that we should go about it with a heavy hand in an effort to please the masses.

Doesn’t anyone want to write organically anymore? Do these tropes make writers feel more comfortable with their work because they mesh with the opinions of the “in” crowd? Or maybe writing to trope actually gives writers false hope? A book may have all the tropes and still fail as a story.

The advocates of trope indulgence imply that it’s a good thing to run with the pack. And I get that. As I said above, there are a lot of readers out there who don’t want something different. But tropes don't assure they'll get the same either. Just because I enjoy one Emily Henry happily-ever-after romance doesn’t mean I’m going to love them all.

A MATTER OF CONVENIENCE
Tropes give the author a means for selling their work more easily. Like genre does, the tropes sum up what happens in a book using just a few generic words. What are genres and tropes except shorthand that lets readers know what they can expect from the book? You also might call them labels.

If you like Star Wars, you’ll love this space opera.

If you like strong female protagonists …

If you like time travel …

If you like dragon riders …

Tropes are a selling tool. If you can say your book is an enemies to lovers vampire romance, you’ll potentially attract those lovers of Twilight.

And that’s fine as long as you don’t get hung up on them during the writing of your book. In my mind, they’re not as important as creating an original story.

Then again, my nature is to swim against the tide. I don’t strive for trope usage, though I admit that many tropes show up in my sci-fi series. And while not adhering to or “selling with” the help of tropes so far hasn’t resulted in bestsellers for me (I’ve only posted one or two of those tropey Instagram photos with the labels and arrows pointing to the cover image), I’d much rather sell an original story than just another novel about the same whatever-scenario-is-popular-at-the-moment.

My advice is to write your organically inspired novel. Will it contain tropes? I’m sure it will, but I don’t think it would hurt to worry about those tropes later as opposed to during the creation of your book.

Once your story is written, you’ll have plenty of time to see what’s there and post about it.

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