Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Tuesday Tropes: What Is A Trope?



Writing a story isn't all that different from making a cabinet. The difference? Your tools. Believe it or not, making a story requires tools. I don't mean hardware like computers, keyboards, pens and paper. That's more or less your construction materials. I mean your software: plot, characterization, and conventions.

As a new feature, each Tuesday I'll highlight a trope, a figure of speech, something in literature and film that is easily identifiable and commonly used without being cliche, so long as it is not absurd or overused. Knowing what tropes are has helped me understand the building blocks of developing a good story. Hopefully you'll find learning about tropes to be just as helpful.

Take the picture above for our first example. Nathan Drake from Uncharted is dangling for his life.

Scary, huh?

This is a fitting example of a Literal Cliffhanger. Is hanging by one hand what makes this picture gripping? Look at the debris below him and the gun he dropped. This is known as the Plummet Perspective. This adds tension by showing you just how dire the situation is and how terrible Nathan's fate will be if he lets go.

Is this cliche? If done right, not at all. It's used quite often and is usually effective, especially if we care about the character (Luke dangling under Bespin? Frodo clinging above the fires of Mordor?). However, the Literal Cliffhanger is so common that inventing new ways to portray it has made it tougher to be original.

But it can be done! Like all building blocks, the possibilities are endless.

For more on tropes, check out my source.

Have you ever used a Literal Cliffhanger or a Plummet Perspective in your writing? Intentional or accident? What have you read/seen that uses this trope?

I'm David, and where's a good place to hang out?

22 comments:

  1. Oh, I love this new feature. So cool. When I first finished writing my current WIP, I left it at a cliffhanger. Then, I realized I need the book to be able to stand alone, so I changed everything around. The Plummet Perspective is what I'm working on right now. I need to show how dire my situation is.

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  2. I don't think I've used either. We'll see if one pops up in my NaNo writing later, though. Thinking about where I am in the story, probably not. But there might be one near the end.

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  3. Great feature! I'll look forward to reading more :)

    And now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever used this idea. Hmm--it would work well in my wip and might be kinda fun!

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  4. Love the Trope feature! I hadn't thought of the "Plummet Perspective" before in those terms. I sort of like it. :)

    I literally dangled one of my MCs off the side of a ship in a storm...so, yeah, I'm a fan of cliffhangers.

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  5. I like the tropes that the Walking Dead employs in their episodes. For example, they didn't use a cliffhanger per se (on the mid-season finale) but brought a very satisfactory end to a plot arc that has been going since the premiere episode for this season.

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  6. The balance between trope and cliche can be a very delicate, but knowing how to use a trope effectively can be invaluable. Looking forward to the rest of this series.

    mood
    Moody Writing
    @mooderino
    The Funnily Enough

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  7. I'm at a scene in my current MS where the characters stop a moving train. Too trope?

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  8. Great idea for a series. I like cliff hangers in part because it makes me want to keep writing to figure out what happens and as a reader, I have the same reaction.

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  9. I just write a Literal Cliffhanger into my story yesterday!

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  10. This is fantastic! Great perspective!

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  11. Ah, very interesting. I suppose cliffhangers are common, but effective. I for one am scared of heights. Will be looking forward to your Tuesday trope. :)

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  12. This is a great idea for Tuesdays! I need to learn more about tropes! I totally do. And when I think of one, I think of the "obvious" Cliffhanger movie with Sly trying to save the girl! Ahhh - good old Sly.

    Thanks for sharing David! Looking forward to more of this!

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  13. Hi David, I linked over here from your mentor Monday interview. How nice to meet you! I love your hardware/software metaphor at the top of this post. To the software list, I would add: imagination, faith, and surrender (though faith and surrender may be a bit redundant).

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  14. Can't say that I've used this particular trope though now I may be inspired to to use it. I admit that a cliffhanging moment is part of what causes one of my character's personal issues and self-doubt.

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  15. I use similar things on a regular occasion. Although they aren't always so literal, I have a lot of fun as a writer when they are.

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  16. Thanks for introducing me to a new term... I'll looking put for them now.

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  17. I haven't used that one yet. Most of the dire situations in my first book take place in the cockpit, so there's no dangling involved.

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  18. Great series - I love it. Always happy to add new tools and materials to my bag of tricks.

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  19. I can always use a good trope because they are just good ideas. I'm looking forward to the others.

    And you can always hang out at the local McD, they have WiFi ;)

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  20. What a great idea for a series of posts.

    I haven't written a literal cliffhanger yet. I'm open to the possibility, though.

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  21. Oh, and talking about re-tellings of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, I love Jessica Day George's PRINCESS OF THE MIDNIGHT BALL! She also wrote PRINCESS OF GLASS about another one of the twelve sisters and a third book in the series will be coming out. I've met Jessica several times and she's just as awesome of a person as she is a writer!

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  22. Oops! I put that last comment on the wrong post! Sorry, Charlie!

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