Comments on: How to Use Character Tropes Without Writing Cliches

By: Annie Lima

Annie Lima — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 03:46:17 +0000

Thanks for an interesting and helpful article! I know you have a Character Type & Trope Thesaurus, but have you ever thought of creating other kinds of trope thesauri? One about settings, for example, or plot events, or one focused on different kinds of tropes for individual genres. That would be really fun and useful!

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:50:10 +0000

In reply to Sally M. Chetwynd. Sounds interesting, especially as it's not a romance. I like that it's the man who feels this way, because that's a nice twist!

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:49:17 +0000

In reply to denise. Glad this was helpful, Denise!

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:48:57 +0000

In reply to Ellen Buikema. Thanks, Ellen!

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:48:32 +0000

In reply to Sally M. Chetwynd. It's true! We do need to remind ourselves of it. We tend to fixate on the protagonist and shape the story to fit them.

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:47:45 +0000

In reply to Sally M. Chetwynd. I've not heard of this show - I will have to see if I can find it online.

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:47:02 +0000

In reply to Karen Albright Lin. That's a good one. It forces the writer to go deeper into the motivations of the antagonist and be sure to show these to the readers, while showing the assumptions of the characters.

By: Sally M. Chetwynd

Sally M. Chetwynd — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 21:22:34 +0000

In reply to Michelle Gregory. Ha ha! This reminds me of one of the characters on the TV show "Svengoolie" on Saturday nights. Svengoolie runs cheesy old horror films. In the two years, three supporting characters have joined his show - Svengirlie (an Elvira vamp type), IMP (a devil of slight stature), and (my favorite) Nostalgiaferatoo (a Nosferatu vampire of most cheerful disposition). Nostalgiaferatoo definitely twists the trope!

By: Sally M. Chetwynd

Sally M. Chetwynd — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 21:18:50 +0000

In reply to Debbie Vilardi. "Every character is the protagonist of their own story." I love this perspective! So obvious, but most of us rarely think this way.

By: Sally M. Chetwynd

Sally M. Chetwynd — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 21:17:15 +0000

In my second novel, the main male character is intensely handsome, but he views this feature as a kind of handicap, for it attracts too much attention from women who just want him to bed them. As a result, he keeps women at a distance and distrusts himself when finally he is drawn to the main female character. That attraction does not end as readers might expect. (And this is not a romance.)