Hello, Readers! It’s Clevenger… again!

Our apologies that this post is a day late, but Graham is recovering after some pretty serious medical concerns, and that took our attention. He is doing well now, but is still recovering. So you get me! Again!

When last we left off, we were discussing Tropes. Those “terrible,” “cliche,” and “tired” writing methods that so many authors use as a crutch. Or at least, we have been told. But again, Tropes are just tools, and all tools can be useful. And if you revitalize or open a new angle on one of these methods, a lot of amazing story lines can come wading to the surface. So today, I would like to talk about some of my favorite tropes. Tropes that I really enjoy reading, and why.

I’ll start with my personal favorite. “Sufficiently Analyzed Magic.” Magic, to me, is supposed to be a “hard system” with rules, limits, and weight. I think this type of magic system allows the characters chances to be creative. I prefer when their creativity bends the rules, rather than breaks them, but I love seeing what is a relatively even playing field and used to show who a character is by the way they perceive the magic they have access to.

It also allows the ability to play with other tropes like “Achievements in Ignorance,” and “Dangerous Forbidden Techniques” if so desired. And while I do think someone can overplay these, I think of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time and see what can be done with them. So much of the story he tells revolves around his magic system and having that well-defined system of rules (much of which is revealed to the reader, but not all) gives it a heft that roots the world for me.

Another favorite of mine is the “Final Battle”. This can be a strong climax of the story and allow the characters to have their closure moments for their individual arcs and watch the plot arcs close as well. But I think that is important. That the characters have their moment in those pages. As much as I love the “Night Angel Trilogy” from Brent Weeks. I don’t feel connected to the “Final Battle”. The characters are all lost in the fog of war and I don’t get that “completion” from any of them. Compare that to the same plot trope of “Empire Strikes Back,” (which is unfair to a LOT of ending battles) and all the character moments that you get in that sequence.

And finally, I’ll drill down to a character trope. I love a good “Chosen One.” Yes, yes… I know, I know… they’ve been used to death. But they are so “clean.” You know exactly what the deal is. The character is the hero because they’re “supposed to be” the hero! I love it more when the Antagonist is a Dark Mirror of the Hero. You can see the power of choice there, and what an alternate path would have been. The dynamic between the Hero and Villian are often well balanced, they are clean cut boundaries, and it’s an easy read. I could list SO many stories of the Chosen Ones, and all of them are told with varying degrees of success. And yes, it’s cliche… but dammit, I don’t care.

So there you go, one world building trope, one plot trope, and one character trope! Nice and neat. There are several more that I thought about, but these are tropes that I consistently lean towards when watching a TV show, a movie, or reading. They feel familiar, they comfort me in the moment, and they satisfy me when they are done correctly.

But I wouldn’t be done until I revealed a guilty pleasure of mine. The “13 is unlucky” Trope. Man I love a good number based Trope. Watching a world built on a single number, installing a numerology mythos around it. Dropping hints of what is coming, and showing that number anytime something pivotal will happen. Just geeks me out when I go and re-read/re-watch the story. For me, my number is actually 9. There’s nothing in Manticore’s Shadow or the Stories of Sainan…. but maybe, just maybe another day.

Wish Graham well on a speedy recovery, hopefully we’ll hear back from him on his favorite tropes on Wednesday!

Until then… be kind.

-Clevenger

Photo by Lars Mulder from Pexels