Ideas about favourite tropes?

[squashedalmondcroissant]

I’m attempting (very badly) to write a sort of historical fantasy novel. I’m a complete novice so doing a lot of research and reading about how to write a novel and one idea was make a list of what tropes you really love and include some of them. But I’m drawing a blank!

Only thing I have so far is I love a soft magic system where magic isn’t obvious or even really fully understood and therefore many people ‘in world’ might not even know it exists or know how it works.

I also love slightly bitter sweet endings, or at least ones where the protagonist doesn’t fully ‘win’, especially if there are sequels, I think it really drives the story forward and makes the ultimate conclusion more satisfying.

What are some tropes you love? Not necessarily fantasy, just in general?

Sorry? How is are favourite troupes remotely relevant to you trying to write a historical fantasy novel? Genuine question

I'm not clear as to what you mean in this context about "tropes". To me, most tropes used in fiction are rather like cliches (think about all the books where mortal enemies end up lovers or revealed as having been related all along, etc.) and are best avoided if at all possible. Or are you perhaps referring to reoccurring motifs that might run through a novel and add to its cohesion? If it's more a motif that you are looking for, it's not a case of just picking one you "like" out of thin air and sticking it into your narrative, but something that actually adds to the story being told in some way.

I've seen this advice before (on youtube about writing fantasy). I think it means things like enemies to lovers, chosen one, found family etc. Which have become things used to market books recently but not sure how useful they'd be if you're starting a draft? There are quite a few videos rating tropes which might give you some inspiration if you want to pursue it, though.

I found Brandon Sanderson's lecture series really useful as a starting point for things to consider when writing.

OP, do you know what a “troupe” is?

@Hassell I think you’ve misread “tropes” for “troupes”?

Ignore! A poster has corrected me!

To me that's a pretty odd way of starting to write a historical fantasy novel unless you're actually writing for a specific imprint that only publishes novels focusing on certain tropes.

But, leaving that aside, presumably you read a lot of historical fantasy, if you're writing it -- think of novels you particularly enjoy and what tropes you particularly enjoy in them? Basically, what do you want to read more of?

I do like an Action Girl and a Plucky Heroine. Have a browse for your favourite tropes!

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ActionGirl

Thank you for the input!

I have already started writing the book so I’m not exactly trying to shoehorn tropes in where they don’t belong but I though it would be interesting to see the tropes/ideas/themes that people other than me like (or hate) to see in novels. Not necessarily specific to historical or fantasy because quite often tropes in, say, romance can cross genres and it works well!

Personally I hate ‘enemies to lovers’, I think it’s so boring and overdone, and I wouldn’t want to read anything that featured that sort of storyline.

I love morally grey characters, I also like antagonists who have some good in them but ultimately still choose evil.

Just get writing, and you'll find they appear of their own accord. You really don't want to tie yourself into restrictive knots before you've even begun, and you certainly don't want to write a string of cliches either.

I'm halfway through writing my first novel and have found out the hard way that reading all the 'how to write a novel' guides is more of a hindrance than a help.