A trope is a recurring device, theme or pattern in storytelling, such as the chosen one or enemies to lovers, that readers recognise and that writers can use, twist or avoid.
Where the term comes from
Merriam-Webster traces the word to the Latin tropus, figure of speech, borrowed from the Greek tropos, which means turn, way or manner. It dates the word to before the twelfth century. The original sense is a figure of speech. Two later senses apply to storytelling. One is a cliche. The other is a common theme or device, as in the arts, which the dictionary treats as close to a motif, with examples such as the usual horror movie tropes and the enemies-to-lovers trope in romance. So the word can be neutral, naming a pattern readers enjoy, or critical, naming a pattern that has been used until it went dull. Which one you mean should be clear from the sentence.
An example
A mysterious stranger arrives in a small town with one suitcase and a closed expression. Readers who know the trope expect a secret, a threat or a romance. The writer can honour that expectation and then tilt it. Idris Hale turns out to be the town's new dentist, newly divorced and terrified of being asked how he is. The expected stranger is replaced by a specific man, and the book's humour comes from the gap between the pattern and the person. The trope gave the writer a shortcut into the scene, and the details made it theirs.
Common mistakes
- Trying to avoid every trope. Genres are built from shared patterns, and readers often come to a book for the patterns they like.
- Using a trope as a replacement for character. A pattern can set the stage, but a person still needs wants and history.
- Stacking several well-worn ones in a row, so the book feels assembled from parts.
- Announcing the trope inside the story with a wink, which can undercut the feeling you wanted.
How to check your manuscript
List the tropes in your premise, your main relationships and your opening scenes. For each one, write the version readers expect and the version you wrote. If the two are identical, find one specific change that grows from your characters, not from a wish to be clever. Next, read a middle chapter and look for patterns you used without noticing, such as the same type of conflict between friends or the same kind of reveal. Writers inside a genre often find that the most useful question is which tropes the story is promising its readers and whether the ending keeps those promises. The guides to writing a romance novel and a fantasy novel both discuss the patterns their readers expect.