With so many tropes and cliches out there, there are bound to be some that I will eat up every time they come across a page. I’m not sure how many there are, seeing as I’m writing this the day of publishing, but let’s have a look, shall we?

Broody Dark Male Character Struggles To Let Himself Fall In Love

You know what I mean, right? Take Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows, for example, who is packed full of inner conflict, trauma, issues he’s constantly working through and Inej Ghafa, this wonderful human being who is so loyal to him and to the Dregs. The romantic tension between the two kills me because it create so much character turmoil, for both Kaz and Inej, and it’s only in the moments of great vulnerability and hurt that we see him bring down his barriers to allow himself to be near her. It’s only because he trusts her equally, if not more, than she trusts him that he is able to let her get so close. It works really well for the characer interactions, Kaz’s character development, and for the setting of the books and the landscape of Ketterdam; that grisly, cruel, dirt-ridden place where you have to keep moving, keep working, keep swindling, to stay alive. Without Kaz being the broody male he is – and without the complexities that come with it – the books wouldn’t be nearly as successful as they are.

The Sickness/Injury Trope

This one is iconic. Character A, who has underlying feelings for Character B, is either overworking themselves and falls ill or gets injured in some way and Character B, who has loved A since forever at this point, goes into this stress panic where they immediately become a mother hen and look after A. Can and often does include any of the following; Character A is feverish and loopy and doesn’t have quite the grip on their surroundings and doesn’t catch all the of the sweet things B does or says; B thinks A is dying and confesses; A thinks A is dying and confesses to B, who knows they are not dying but can’t seem to stop them; A and B, who struggled to talk fluently about their feelings before, suddenly become a lot more adept with communicating; A, who was a workaholic and had no real life outside of work, is forced to submit to B’s cajoling while B is sweating brinks because how are they meant to look after A when they are barely functioning being in the same space as them? There are so many variations with this one which makes it all the more amusing to come across them in books because you’re not quite sure how it will play out but you know you’re going to enjoy reading it.

Slow Burn Romance

I prefer slow burn over insta-love every day of the week, without a doubt. There is no competition. Not only do I think it’s better in terms of a pay off when they finally do get together, but the subtlety and slow shifts between the characters throughout the duration of their acquaintanceship to friendship to complicationship allows for so many beautiful and emotive moments. Why wouldn’t you want the character to think about love, think about loving this other character, think about being in love with this other character, and so on until they are struggling to hide it or struggling to make normal interactions with this person stay normal while they privately work out how to tell them? This is especially true for books that aren’t predominantly romance books, for example, a historical fiction mystery series where the murders being investigated take precedence over their relationship but of course with close calls come feelings bubbling to the surface that can’t be ignored (see the Wrexford and Sloane Mystery series by Andrea Penrose for this slow burn romance). It also, to me, makes more sense in stories, especially when a career or goal is at the centre of the story as I don’t think it’s accurate for adults to suddenly be completely overcome by their emotions when there are very important things still happening like work or big jobs and projects. Am I too cynical?

Rich Platonic Relationships Between Characters – Especially those Of The Opposite Sex

How is it that rich and healthy platonic relationships between character who aren’t siblings are almost impossible to find? I am wholeheartedly over the love triangle at this point and I am searching for books with characters who are good friends to each other without their sexual orientation making them incompatible or their availability making them off limits. Is it so hard to believe that there can be mutual friendships between people of the opposite, or same, sex without them having romantic feelings for each other? It that not part of life? Stories with these mutually platonic relationships between single characters flesh out the story and make it so much more enjoyable because we have relationships that are so rich and strong that aren’t formed because of a familial or romantic bond. It creates so many moments of great writing, of great character building and character development, and it can also create some great opportunities to really wreck your reader with moments of despair and heartbreak.

Parental Figures Who Aren’t Parents

Bonus points if they are guiding someone who is an adult because parental figures and the stereotypical mage archetype shouldn’t be reserved for kids alone. there is so much potential with parental figures, whether they be teachers like Remus Lupin or John Keating in Dead Poets Society, or the wizard/mage with the knowledge and the experience like Gandalf. In a contemporary or at least a more grounded sense, these characters aren’t just there to give the younger or less experienced the tools to proceed. There can be used to show that adults can make mistakes too, that there are plenty of things that can happen in a lifetime, and that there is no one who is old and grey who hasn’t got regrets or done things wrong in their life. Parental figures simply being there for a grieving character make scenes so much more impactful and heartbreaking, especially when they too are struggling with the loss of someone or they are the ones who are dying.

What do you think? What are some of your favourite tropes and cliches?