Everyone has their favourite story types. While a lot of writers try to stay away from tropes, sometimes you can’t avoid them – and some tropes are just too good to not want to use in your story!

Here are my favourite tropes:

Young woman goes on a solo self-discovery journey (My favourite! Relatable!)

The jerk/selfish character ends up risking or losing their lives to save the others.

Redemption stories (Bad person goes through a transition where they genuinely feel guilty for their wrongs, apologize, and make up for all that they did, and they remain better).

Older woman with a younger man (10+ years age difference preferred if both are over 21) (Check out the film Harold & Maude for an extreme version of this or read an amazing dystopian series called World After Geezer.)

The seemingly meek/weak one turns out to be the hero. (Think of Sansa Stark in GOT)

The bad guy turns good BUT it’s only a sham. He’s actually still bad. (I love this because it’s shocking and plays with your mind. I do this in my Western book The Broken & The Foolish)

An abused character stands up to their abuser as the story climax.

The target has a final showdown with their stalker after years of creepy messages and close encounters. (“The Perfect Wife” series does this pretty well.)

A teenager sets out on a journey to find purpose and brings bread and cheese in a hemp sack. (You can’t not love this. It’s not a YA fantasy if this doesn’t happen. :P)

The protagonist has an animal best friend. (The pet usually dies, but this mirrors real life so it’s something the reader can relate to!)

Save the world. I think all of us dream this could happen one day. Someone unlocks the secret to eliminate hate and violence, saving all of the world from it.

Thank you so much for reading! 🙂 What are some of your favourite tropes?