Tropes, Archetypes and Stereotypes

Since this has become a discussion among both the Entangled Smackdown and Minxy groups, I thought today I'd clear up the difference between tropes and archetypes.

A trope is a concept, while an archetype relates more to character. So as an example, 'Reformed Rake' might be the trope, while 'Bad Boy' would be the archetype. A cop or sheik might be an archetype, but their story could be any from the lengthy list of tropes, for example, Boy Next Door or Stranded.

And this is exactly why I think the romance genre will never be boring or formulaic. There are endless combinations of characters, settings, conflicts and tropes, so every story is different from the one before. Add in the author's own voice and no two stories are ever really the same.

However, just as a trope can head into cliché territory if not handled properly, so weak writing can turn an archetype into a stereotype. The line between the two is thin, but very clear.

An archetype is a universal character type that your reader can immediately identify.

Examples include:

• the young man on the rise (Luke Skywalker)
• the wise grandfather (Obi Wan)
• the court jester (C3PO)
• the damsel in distress (Princess Leia)
• the lone ranger (Han Solo)
• the sidekick (Wookie)
• the evil villain (Darth Vader)

Written well, these characters are complex, well-rounded people, even while representing certain character types we can all immediately identify.

A stereotype, on the other hand, is a cardboard cut-out. This is where the writer has used a character type as a shorthand rather than developing a true-to-life character, and often it signifies laziness (or ignorance) on the author's part.

Examples include:

• the timid secretary
• the villainous boss
• the blonde bimbo
• the dumb jock
• the Mary-Sue

And the ultimate of all stereotypes - Prince Charming in Disney’s Cinderella – the poor man doesn’t even get a name!

Have any questions, good examples, or even want to disagree? Please leave a comment,and keep teh discussion going.

Tropes in Romance

Image courtesy of Harlequin Junkie

I've signed up to do the Nano smackdown with Savvy Authors and Entangled Press and scared as I am that I've bitten off more than I can chew, I'm already glad I signed up.

Aside from meeting the lovely group of writers who'll be holding my hand through Nano, the Entangled editors are already helping us focus our conflicts and get our plots, characters and GMC sorted. If only we could have editorial feedback this early in the process on every book!

Entangled are very big on being clear up front what tropes your story contains. Since I've never really thought of my stories in terms of tropes, this has been a steep learning curve for me, and I spent the weekend researching them.

For those who, like me, were wondering what the hell a 'trope' is: it's a convention, or a familiar plot line or set-up, that is instantly recognisable to readers, a kind of 'shorthand' that helps both writer and reader identify what the story is about.

While I would hate to give any ammunition to those who say that romance is formulaic, every romance reader will recognise these tropes. And let's face it, we all have certain types of stories we love and some we hate. Done badly, they can become cliched, but haven't we all read a book that gives a new twist on an old trope and thought 'Wow! Wish I'd thought of that'?

Harlequin Junkies also has this fabulous post on romance tropes.

With some help from my fellow Indulgence Smackdowners (especially Amalie Berlin who has done a similar post, broken down beautifully into categories) here is the list of tropes I've compiled so far. Please feel free to leave a comment suggesting any I may have missed.


List of tropes:

1. Accidental Pregnancy
2. Across the Tracks / Lovers from different worlds
3. All grown up
4. Amnesia 
5. Arranged marriage 
6. Athlete / Sports romance
7. Baby makes three (the classic epilogue scene where the happy couple add a baby to the family)
8. Bait & Switch (hero or heroine thinks the other is someone else)
9. Beauty & the Beast 
10. Betrayal 
11. Billionaire/Millionaire hero
12. Blackmail 
13. Celeb crush
14. Childhood friends
15. Cougar (older woman / younger man) 
16. Cowboy / rancher hero
17. Damsel in distress / Knight in Shining Armour
18. Enemies to lovers (Kiss or kill) 
19. Fake relationship
20. Family feud
21. First Love
22. Fish out of water 
23. Forbidden love / Off limits
24. Forced proximity / trapped together (see Stranded below) 
25. Friend’s big brother / little sister 
26. Friends to lovers
27. Friends with benefits
28. Girl/ Boy Next Door / Love thy Neighbour
29. Guardian / Ward 
30. High school sweethearts
31. Honey Trap
32. Impersonation
33. Jilted
34. Love at first sight
35. Love triangle 
36. Make-over story / Ugly Duckling
37. Marriage of convenience 
38. Masquerade (one of the characters in disguise) / Becoming the Mask
39. Matchmaker
40. May / December romance (also known as Cougar Romance if a woman is the older partner)
41. Military
42. Mistaken identity / Hidden identity / Disguise
43. Mysterious past 
44. Nanny to wife 
45. New in town
46. New old flame
47. Not blood siblings / Flirty step siblings
48. Office romance / Working together
49. One night stand 
50. On the run / Flirting under fire
51. Operation Jealousy
52. Opposites Attract 
53. Political Scandal
54. Pretend marriage / fake engagement 
55. Rags to riches / Cinderella
56. Redemption
57. Reformed rake / Bad boy reformed
58. Reincarnation romance
59. Returned to hometown
60. Reunion / Reunited lovers 
61. Revenge 
62. Royalty
63. Runaway bride / groom 
64. Second chance at love
65. Secret 
66. Secret baby 
67. Secret crushes 
68. Secret romance / marriage
69. Secret royal / Secret billionaire / Secret heir
70. Slow burn
71. Soul mates / Fate
72. Stranded / snowbound 
73. Sudden parenthood (eg. Doorstep baby, inherited baby) 
74. The Bet 
75. The one that got away
76. Tortured hero(ine)
77. Twins (secret twins / impersonation) 
78. Undercover as lovers
79. Unrequited Love
80. Working with the ex