Thursday, October 2, 2014

Trope Fatigue

I am really, really sick of the word "trope." It is so very overused.

For those that don't know or care, "trope" has come into common use among those that discuss fiction. What is a trope? Under it's current use, it's any idea that has been used more than once in a TV, movie, or other popular entertainment. The girl next door? Trope. The happy hooker? Trope. The bad guy that pretends to be a good guy to get the girl? Trope. Car chase? Trope. The slow clap? Trope.

This is my problem with the way the word is being used. It's meaning is so broad that it holds very little meaning. It has a somewhat negative connotation, as if the author that uses it is being lazy or unoriginal. This, by the way, is bullshit. Just because a "trope" is used - or even overused - doesn't make it bad. "The guy gets the girl in the end" is a trope, but there are many, many examples of it being used in entertaining and original ways. I would much rather have someone say that a story is weak because it's predictable and boring than because it uses a common trope. The first gives me something to work on. The second is too generic to be meaningful.

When will people critiquing fiction realize that it isn't about the elements an author uses? It's the skill that's used to combine them.

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