Good question. Do tropes make stories predictable?
There is some truth to this. A good example is all the crime tropes as a genre. Having a detective means crimes were committed and or will be committed as the story goes on. That’s just how they go. Those crime stories seem like they’re repeating themselves just with new characters because of what we know will happen. It’s predictable in that regard. Watch enough Law and Order, CSI episodes, Dateline’s Crimes of Suburbia shows on Friday night and you see patterns or tropes emerge.
But sometimes, we can ignore the trope label and approach them as more of the plot than a side effect. Maybe as a theme or in some cases, an antagonist itself.
Perhaps giving a trope a new dynamic or “assignment” can overlook the trope stigma, if such a thing exists. Some authors relish the tropes and others try to work around them, and that’s fine either way. I think stories will always have at least one trope or even create a new trope entirely. Tropes may be predictable, but the plot doesn’t have to be. I think it’s awesome when an author can turn a trope on its head and give readers something they were NOT expecting. A massive plot twist, if I may. Teach old dogs new tricks. This move has potential for stories to not be as predictable as readers guess/assume they are.
This is how we expand the borders of good fiction out a little more and give more authors a chance and a voice.
Love this perspective. Tropes are necessary, because genres are bound by them. Your article made me think of how storytelling seems to offer a palette of colors to draw from, and we all sort of draw from the same colors, but it's the picture (as you mention - our perspective, experience) that makes a great story.
Good question. Do tropes make stories predictable?
There is some truth to this. A good example is all the crime tropes as a genre. Having a detective means crimes were committed and or will be committed as the story goes on. That’s just how they go. Those crime stories seem like they’re repeating themselves just with new characters because of what we know will happen. It’s predictable in that regard. Watch enough Law and Order, CSI episodes, Dateline’s Crimes of Suburbia shows on Friday night and you see patterns or tropes emerge.
But sometimes, we can ignore the trope label and approach them as more of the plot than a side effect. Maybe as a theme or in some cases, an antagonist itself.
Perhaps giving a trope a new dynamic or “assignment” can overlook the trope stigma, if such a thing exists. Some authors relish the tropes and others try to work around them, and that’s fine either way. I think stories will always have at least one trope or even create a new trope entirely. Tropes may be predictable, but the plot doesn’t have to be. I think it’s awesome when an author can turn a trope on its head and give readers something they were NOT expecting. A massive plot twist, if I may. Teach old dogs new tricks. This move has potential for stories to not be as predictable as readers guess/assume they are.
This is how we expand the borders of good fiction out a little more and give more authors a chance and a voice.
Love this perspective. Tropes are necessary, because genres are bound by them. Your article made me think of how storytelling seems to offer a palette of colors to draw from, and we all sort of draw from the same colors, but it's the picture (as you mention - our perspective, experience) that makes a great story.
If predictability was really a problem, then no one would ever reread a book!
The problem with tropes is when writers start there. The label becomes a box from which the story never escapes.