Trope Overload

Welcome Back, Booklovers! There's been a lot for discussion lately about trope first marketing. Recently I saw a thread blaming it on Tik Tok because trope first marketing but I don't think Tik Tok is to blame when these trope heavy books were written and developed before Book Tok took off.

Recently with adult romance I've seen people express frustrations about mainstream romance focusing more on tropes than the actual story and characters. And I've seen the frustrations over how specific tropes and formulas being overused has these books all reading alike. Sometimes it does feel like the author went down a checklist of what tropes people like and when certain events need to happen in the story. When a book does really well publishers try to replicate it's success. So we see an influx of books with similar plotlines and the same tropes. And after awhile you get trope fatigue and are yearning for something different. I like tropes in romance I don't like when a romance feels like the author had a checklist of all the tropes they wanted to hit in the story without it feeling organic to the characters.

There's this idea that's been pushed online for the past couple of years that we can't call tropes in YA novels overused if they're used by authors of color because this is the first time they've actually gotten to use those tropes. One that's not true! Books by authors of color have always been around and always existed even though they weren't mainstream. A trope is not automatically vastly different just because a non white author uses it. That doesn't mean that there aren't authors who are putting unique spins on tropes by utilizing different storytelling styles and settings. 

It's not lost on me that while there's a push for more stories by people of different backgrounds they're expected to follow the same standard tropes and cliches. In a lot of YA stories the parents are seen as inconveniences and are often missing in action so the teens can do as they please. 

Let's look at the love triangle trope as an example. The reason many readers don't vibe with love triangles is because many authors write them in a way where there is clear emphasis and bias on the one person will be chosen at the end. And we're all seen the running joke online about the two white boys who are supposed to be different in every way but look like carbon copies of each other just with different hair colors. But there are ways to write a love triangle and flip it in to something that feels fresh.

There's also this idea that if you don't like the current trope heavy marketing that you're some kind of literature elitist. When a lot of people just don't use tropes to determine their next read. Some people are more into picking up books based on setting. Some people pick up books based on plot. I think most people who read consistently probably have a favorite author they read from. It also varies by genre.

Every genre and age category uses tropes. They are a foundational part of writing. It's not the usage of tropes that's a problem. It's the way the trope is presented to the audience. To quote Audre Lorde, "For there are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt,". So it's up to the author to make the trope resonate with readers in a positive way. Tropes should enhance the story not be the story.