# Your Story As A List Of Tropes



## Svrtnsse (Jun 26, 2017)

First, a little bit of background: 
I'm trying to get to grips with the basics of storytelling - how to tell a plain and simple story without all the fancy whistles and bells of quirky innovation or revolutionary originality. A big part of this is about understanding and satisfying reader expectations, and a big part of that is tropes.

When working on the outline for my current WIP I got the idea to look up what tropes I'm using in the story to see what they're based on - how they function and what expectations they bring. I'm not sure I learned all that much of what I hoped to, but I had a lot of fun, which is cool too.

What I did find is I could roughly describe the events of my story as a list of tropes. This really shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it did, and I can't help but find it a little bit fascinating. 

As a bit of fun, I'm sharing the list of tropes that sum up the main plot of my the first short story of my current WIP, and I'd like to invite everyone else to do the same.

*Trope-List - Last Fight Of A Fading Star:*
(I got the trope names from tvtropes.org and for the most part they're self explanatory.)
- The Lost Lenore (the protagonists love-interest is dead).
- Throwing the Fight / Fixing the Game
- Honor Before Reason
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated

There are plenty more, and I could probably go on for days trying to determine all of them, but these are the main ones as I see it at the moment.

It'd be cool to see what tropes you guys are using, and to try and puzzle out what your stories are about.


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## Ireth (Jun 26, 2017)

Oooh, ooh, I do this all the time!

A rough summary of *Winter's Queen* in tropes:

All Hallows' Eve
The Fair Folk
Abduction Equals Love (at least in the villain's eyes!)
Land of Faerie
And Now You Must Marry Me
Overprotective Dad / Bash Brothers
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!
Race Against the Clock
Altar the Speed
Sanity Slippage
Eye Scream
The Great Escape (complete with Sleeping Dummy and Dressing as the Enemy)
Laser-Guided Karma
Save the (Anti-)Villain
I Owe You My Life

I could go on and on with what tropes match each character, too. That would be a looong post.


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## Rkcapps (Jun 27, 2017)

This sounds fun! Holy cow that's a long list! I could procrastinate for hours and have a ball! I'll be back! lol! Isn't that a trope phrase?!


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## Svrtnsse (Jun 27, 2017)

Ireth said:


> Oooh, ooh, I do this all the time!
> 
> A rough summary of *Winter's Queen* in tropes:
> 
> ...



That's a big list. I have a hunch on what Winter's Queen is about from your posts on the forums, and it's really cool to see that it quite matches the list of tropes you've put together. I may have to keep doing this for my other stories too.


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Jun 27, 2017)

Is anyone ready for this?!

Tropes List for most of my books:
Winged Humanoid [loads and loads and loads]
Cute Kitten/Cats are Magic
Kind-Hearted Cat Lover
Cloudcuckoolander
Power Crystal
Body To Jewel/Taken For Granite [well, crystal]
The Promise
Star Crossed Lovers
Reincarnation Romance/Past Life Memories
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence 
Disappears into Light
Amnesiac Hero [why do so many of my characters have memory issues?] 
No Antagonist 
Beyond Good and Evil/Blue and Orange Morality
Break the Cutie [that happens in every one of my books]
All Loving Heroine/Friend to All Living Things [almost all of my main characters are like that]
Incorruptible Pure Pureness [somewhat justified in that most of the heroes are divine beings on a mission]
Determinator 
Actual Pacifist 
Fantasy Planet
Wizards from Outer Space
Magic Music/All your Powers Combined
Reality Warper
The Lifestream/Sentient Cosmic Force
All Deaths Final/Any One Can Die/Everyone Dies/Reincarnation
Angelic Beauty
Bishonen/Bishojo 
Ambiguous Gender/No Gender/Barbie Doll Anatomy
Exposed Extraterrestrials 
Chastity Couple/Asexual
Girls Love
Boys Love
Brother-Sister Incest
Gender Bender
Bittersweet Ending/Earn Your Happy Ending
Synchronicity
Living Emotional Crutch/Devoted To You/I Own You My Life
Make A Wish
Mindlink Mates
The Power of Love
Rapunzel Hair
Tomato in the Mirror/The Ending Changes Everything/All Just A Dream [except the dreams are real]
Dying Dream
An Astral Projection, Not A Ghost
Sleep Mode Size/Dual Age Mode
Loads and Loads of Memory Gambits 
Our Dragons Are Different
Our Souls/Spirits/Ghosts Are Different
Our Angels Are Different
Our Mages Are Different
Our Werebeasts Are Different

Tropes List for Hollowed:
Living Doll/Cute Ghost Girl
Creepy Dolls
Winged Humanoids [loads of them]
Angsy Surviving Twin [or so it seems]
Covered in Scars
Tangled Family Tree
Fusion Dance


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## Sheilawisz (Jun 27, 2017)

Hello everyone!

I am sorry to say that you are not really showcasing any work of either narrative or poetry in this thread.

This is more like a game, so it does not belong in the Showcase Forum. I have decided to move this thread to Chit Chat instead, because people have played similar games there.

Have a great day!

S.W.


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## pmmg (Jun 27, 2017)

Thanks Sheila for keeping us straight.


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Jun 27, 2017)

I did wonder if it needed to be moved over here. 

Once I combine Hollowed with a certain Digimon fan fiction that only exists in my head, there's likely going to be loads more tropes. 

I feel, though, that calling, labeling, and categorizing everything as 'tropes' kind of takes the fun out of life. Humans are over dependent on labels and names. A name is not a thing. A tree is not a tree; they are simply called that.


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## Svrtnsse (Jun 28, 2017)

That's a whole lot of tropes TCE. The main list is a bit long to get a full overview of, but I guess it's more than one story as well.

For Hollowed I'm getting a pretty good idea of the concept/setting/background, but I don't quite get a feel for the plot/events, or is that not included?

You've definitely got a point about labelling and categorising things. It's the kind of stuff that comes up now and then here on the forums in other threads. 

I can see how it can be a little disheartening to reduce a story you've created to a short list of pre-defined objects, but at the same time, they're just names and labels. It's the jam that matters, not the label on the jar, but it's really helpful if the label is correct.


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## Ireth (Jun 28, 2017)

Ireth said:


> A rough summary of *Winter's Queen* in tropes:
> 
> All Hallows' Eve
> The Fair Folk
> ...



Edited to include the villain. How could I forget him?


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Jun 28, 2017)

Well, I'm a bit notorious in that in my books, barely anything happens from a summary perspective [in other words, they're more interesting than they look], but when things do happen [usually with a plot twist of some kind], the typical response is 'Wait, what?! How did I miss that?! *goes back and rereads everything* Oh, that makes sense now. What a crazy twist." 

Hollowed is even more low-key than usual in that technically only four things happen:
1) The two main characters arrive at the village and settle in
2) The scarred wizard meets his mothers and something is revealed
3) The Doll Maker shows up and makes things even more complicated, and more things are revealed
4) The ending, with a twist

So to put the plot/setting into Tropes in order would be something like:
Opening Bait and Switch
Arcadia
Family Secret
Dark and Troubled Past
What is this thing you call 'Life'? 
What is this thing you call 'Love'?
You're Not Alone
Love Triangle Deconstruction
Your Days Are Numbered/Secretly Dying
Act of True Love/Disappears into Light


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Jun 28, 2017)

Hmmmm...

Listing all the tropes in any book would probably take forever, but here we go with some major ones: 

World of Action Girls (fits because the characters are almost all female and are almost all badasses; none of the male characters fight.) 
Chaotic Neutral (my MC)
Dark and Troubled Past (my MC) 
My MC is not quite a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, but not exactly a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk either. 
Deadpan Snarker (Leslie, my MC, probably a lot of other people) 
The Plague (I have one) 
Scavenger World (also Lost Technology) 
Crapsack World (my setting) 
Wretched Hive (my setting more specifically) 
Big Brother is Watching 
Cloudcuckoolander (MC's roommate who accidentally ends up her loyal sidekick) 
Our Werebeasts are Different (^above character turns into an annoying dog) 
Our Zombies are Different 
My villain is somewhere in between the Stepford Smiler and The Wonka. Eccentric on the outside, psycho on the inside.
Above Good and Evil might be my villain, or she may just have Blue and Orange Morality. 
Gemstone Assault/Crystal Weapon/Glass Weapon (magic manifests as crystalline/like diamond, and is occasionally used to kill people) 

I'm tired, but those are some.


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Jun 28, 2017)

The Cloudcukoolander trope is probably among my top favourites. That's the main reason I watch Doctor Who and read The Order of The Stick comic.


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## valiant12 (Jun 29, 2017)

My curent projects ;

 Yet unnamed sci fi ;
 - Cool starship
 - The Everyman ( Multiple characters)
  - Starfish Aliens 
  - Eart is one country in the future (I'm not sure how Tv tropes call this)
  - Negative Space Wedgie  
  - Laser beams
  - The ace/ Master Swordsman / Lady of war
  - eldritch abomination

Not finished high fantasy  I'm planing to finish - Rat hole  ;

   -  Playing with Fire
   -  Rat monsters 
   -  Sexy (male ) pirates/pirates are sex gods  ( I think this is a trope)
   -  Dude beaths things with a huge hammer 
   -  Selkies and Wereseals
   -  Angels, Devils and Squid 
   -  Eldritch abomination
   - Our Werewolves Are Different 
   - Mystery Cult/	Religion of Evil / Virgin Sacrifice
   - Saintly Church 
   - Church Militant  - in generick, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, dwarfish flavours
   - Mad Scientist 
   - Average dude  with goddess girlfrend / plot twist
   - Plague doctor - in good, evil , generick and very evil flavours


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## Svrtnsse (Jun 29, 2017)

Nice going. Thanks for your contributions everyone. I find it's kind of fun to try and imagine the stories based on the hints from the tropes. Somehow it feels like it helps me grasp some of the concepts of storytelling I've been struggling with.

These are the plot tropes for the second short story in the series I'm outlining at the moment:

*Last Fight in Tin-Jian*
Nothing is the same anymore.
What were you thinking?
Fugitive Arc (this one will continue for the next several stories involving this character)
Captured on purpose
Balcony escape
Chase scene
Train escape

@TCE: I'm thinking Hollowed seems like it's set up to be built on a very dark foundation, but I get the impression it's going to come to a good end. It's probably not a happily ever after end, but an end with closure none the less.

EDIT: I hope you don't mind me trying to analyze your story. It'd be interesting to hear if it's close though.


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Jun 29, 2017)

^It's surprisingly not as dark as it sounds, although books don't usually open with the main character dying. Things only hit the lower end of the 'darkness scale' at the climax when various things are fully revealed. 
I don't mind at all. I might eventually post it on this site once I get things together.


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## Svrtnsse (Jun 30, 2017)

One more down. Here's the trope list for part three:

*Betrayal In The Jungle*
Obstructive Bureaucrat
Burger Fool
Gang Bangers
Wild Wilderness
False Friend
Shape Shifting
Big Heroic Run
Fight Scene
A quiet moment


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## FifthView (Jun 30, 2017)

@Svrtnsse:

It seems yours aren't mere lists, but actually a more-or-less chronological outline for the stories. So...outlining via trope?


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## Svrtnsse (Jun 30, 2017)

FifthView said:


> @Svrtnsse:
> 
> It seems yours aren't mere lists, but actually a more-or-less chronological outline for the stories. So...outlining via trope?



Well, sort of, except the other way around. I do the outline first, and then I figure out what tropes best fit the outline. They're listed in chronological order though, so they sort of serve as a simplified outline of the story.

I'm not sure what the exact benefit of doing it like this is, but I have a hunch it's good. I think it may help me get to grips better with the more abstract part of designing the story.


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## FifthView (Jun 30, 2017)

It strikes me that this could be very useful for maintaining focus when you are writing various parts of the story. First I must establish _this _trope, now I must establish _this_ trope, now _this_ trope. And although you could overlap these, what comes to the foreground and what recedes. Dunno, I'll have to give it a shot sometime.



Svrtnsse said:


> Well, sort of, except the other way around. I do the outline first, and then I figure out what tropes best fit the outline. They're listed in chronological order though, so they sort of serve as a simplified outline of the story.
> 
> I'm not sure what the exact benefit of doing it like this is, but I have a hunch it's good. I think it may help me get to grips better with the more abstract part of designing the story.


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## Svrtnsse (Jun 30, 2017)

Okay, so I managed to finish another outline already. It's been a good day. Here goes.

*A Prey's Vengeance*
Naked on Arrival
He's back. (except it's She)
Broken bridge
Noble Fugitive / Hero of another story.
Fight scene
The Cavalry / Revenge / The hunter becomes the hunted.
Back to Back Badasses
Fire-forged Friends
Let's Get Out Of Here
Memento MacGuffin
Train escape (yes, again)

What I'm finding as I'm thinking about it is that using a chronologic trope list like this helps me get a good overview of the story.

This is especially noticeable in this case where a significant part of the first act isn't included in the list. I didn't find any tropes for the events between _Naked on Arrival_ and _He's Back_, and while I know what's happening there the gap in the list is quite noticeable.

If I were to make up my own trope names (which I have avoided so far - don't ask me why), that series of events would look something like this:
Naked on Arrival / Lost in the Wild
Stealing Back What's Mine
The Long Way Home
She's Back


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Jun 30, 2017)

Have to say that Crapsaccharine World is a favorite of mine, and one I tend to gravitate toward in stories. 

My current WIP just lost the Saccharine veneer.


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## Svrtnsse (Jun 30, 2017)

So far a lot of my tropes seem to evolve trains and various types of escapes. 

As I'm writing this I'm thinking that this is something I should try and embrace rather than subvert. Maybe I can try and tie it in with the theme of the story in some way.


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Jul 1, 2017)

Some more tropes have appeared in Hollowed [at least, in the new part 1 I'm working on]:

Beautiful Void
Reality Warper
Symbiosis/Cloning Blues
Naked on Arrival/Fetal Position Rebirth
What Measure Is A Non-Human [except that literally none of my characters in any of my books are human...so...] What Measure Is A New Life-Form?


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 5, 2017)

Been out of touch for a bit. Here's the trope list for the 7th part in the series:

*That Last Date*
Whole Episode Flashback.
Childhood Friend Romance
Unfettered?
Aborted declaration of love
Not good with rejection / Ax-Crazy	
What did I do last night?
Did not get the girl


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Jul 5, 2017)

Oh, yeah, I forgot to include Childhood Friend Romance in my big list.


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 6, 2017)

I think Childhood Friend Romance is probably one of the defining/motivating tropes for the entire series of stories I'm working on. That's kind of what sets the whole thing in motion. It doesn't figure in that much in the individual parts of the series though, which is probably not a bad thing - I hope.

This is the list of tropes for part five of the series.

*First Train to Anywhere*
The Chase
Fire-forged Friends / Salt and Pepper
Damsel in Distress
Friend or Idol Decision
Memento Macguffin
Damsel out of Distress

What I'll probably do at some point is compile al of the trope lists on a page on my blog to use as a kind of reference. That'll make for easier linking as well.


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 6, 2017)

...and another one.

From a chronological perspective this is the first story in the series, not counting flashbacks. I put it in the sixth spot though as it's not all that interesting in its own right, and as the events it sets into motion are a lot more interesting. Here goes:

*Holy Hangover*
What did I do last night?
Not quite dead
Inciting incident
Didn't think this through.
Keeping Secrets Suck	
Bearer of bad news.
Let me get this straight.

(yes, my characters are being hung over again - it's the first time in this story (and I don't mean chronologically))


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Jul 7, 2017)

Hollowed is sort of Childhood Friend Romance mixed with Love Triangle Deconstruction [since all three characters love each other--or so it seems], but then there's a sharp twist into Tomato In The Mirror and Unreliable Narrator.  I love mega-twists; there's multiple ones in every one of my stories.


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 8, 2017)

Next one. This is part of the main series, but it's also part of a sub-series within the series as the initial story turned out to be too long and complicated. I split it into smaller parts and here's the first of four.

*MU #1 - Escaping the wrong way*
Mysterious Past / The Cartel / The Exile / Price on their Head
Checkpoint Charlie / Walk into Mordor / Let's Split Up, Gang
Hillbilly Horrors / Deep South
Traveling salesman
Doesn't Trust Those Guys
Split and Reunion
Torches and Pitchforks
Escape / Big Heroic Run
Memento Macguffin

Going pretty well even though I got a bit distracted. The troping in the middle is a bit vague, bot I feel like I've got good enough picks to get a decent overview of the story.


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Jul 8, 2017)

^Your stories sound very interesting just from reading the tropes!


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 9, 2017)

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^Your stories sound very interesting just from reading the tropes!



Thanks. 
I was kinda hoping that would be the case. The trope list feels a bit like it distills the essence of the plot and leaves out anything that isn't directly related to it. It seemed like mostly a funny little game first, but it's actually being quite helpful now.


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## Aurora (Jul 13, 2017)

Thought I'd add some in, if that's ok! From my WIP:

-Alpha hero 
-Class warfare (royal setting)
-Disguise 
-Forbidden love 
-Orphan 
-Scars


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 13, 2017)

Aurora said:


> Thought I'd add some in, if that's ok! From my WIP:



Of course, it's an open thread. Anyone's welcome to contribute or show off what they're doing. 

I'm getting vibes of a bit of a love story across barriers. The Class is one barrier, but possibly also the scars?

Looking at the list, I'm thinking the romantic parts are the alpha hero and the orphan, but there's no saying which belongs to the upper and which to the lower class - which is kinda cool.


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## Aurora (Jul 13, 2017)

Classy scars? Yes, they're both barriers. It's not the happiest love story and I actually think it might end terribly for the couple involved. He's the alpha hero and she's the orphan from a lower class, a servant. He's a noble. Assassins may or may not be included. (they are)


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 13, 2017)

Aurora said:


> Classy scars? Yes, they're both barriers. It's not the happiest love story and I actually think it might end terribly for the couple involved. He's the alpha hero and she's the orphan from a lower class, a servant. He's a noble. Assassins may or may not be included. (they are)



I was thinking it'd be something like that, but it also struck me it could be the other way around. With one of them being a disfigured (scarred) upper class orphan who falls for gang leader or something like that.

I was also thinking Phantom of the Opera.


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## Aurora (Jul 13, 2017)

Oh, I see what you mean! No, I'm referring to emotional scars.


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 13, 2017)

Gotcha. That works too.


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## Aurora (Jul 13, 2017)

So if you cut open her chest, you'll find a gigantic scar across her heart muscle.


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 13, 2017)

That's it, now I'm gonna listen to Nick Cave.


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 18, 2017)

Okay, back on track again. Here's another one for the records:

*Avoiding The Law*
“Wanted!” Poster
Fugitive Arc
A friend in need / Conflicting loyalty / The Mole
Trap is the only option.
Lured into a trap.


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 18, 2017)

...and one more:

*Partial Escape*
Defensive Feint Trap
Lawful Neutral
Harbinger of Ass Kicking / It has been an honor / Trap is the only option
Chase Fight / Big Heroic Run / Run for the border
Casual High Drop
Memento MacGuffin
Locked Out of the Fight / Involuntary Group Split
Badass in Distress


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 19, 2017)

For today, here's the trope list for the eleventh part of Werewolves On A Train:

*Friend and Prey*
Badass In Distress
Good Cop/Bad Cop / Reasonable Authority Figure
The Exile
Memento MacGuffin
Determinator
Hard Work Montage
Split and Reunion


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Jul 19, 2017)

Part II of Hollowed involves:

Beyond Good and Evil/Blue and Orange Morality
Reality Warper
Crystal Prison
Sealed Entity in a Can
Apocalypse Maiden/Barrier Maiden [both at once!]
Deep Sleep
Sleepyhead
Mysterious Protector
Deconstructed Rescue Romance
The Promise
Magic [or in this case, Wishes] Come With a Price
Star-Crossed Lovers
Disappears into Light/Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 19, 2017)

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Part II of Hollowed involves:
> [...]Crystal Prison
> Sealed Entity in a Can
> Deep Sleep
> ...



Is this a stasis chamber of some kind?


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## TheCrystallineEntity (Jul 19, 2017)

^Yes, made of crystal. There's crystal in every one of my books.


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## Svrtnsse (Jul 19, 2017)

Yay! \o/


I don't have crystal as a significant concept in my setting. I was thinking of including it as part of the architecture of the city where the first story begins. Something along the lines of "slender spires of marble and crystal" to set the mood. It's in a desert region and I'm thinking it could provide some nice imagery.


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