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Romance Storyline Tropes: What readers expect from marriages of convenience, matchmakers, instant families and more
In this one-of-a-kind resource, you’ll find more than a list of tropes or broad genre fiction advice.
The Romance Writer’s Encyclopedia Series breaks down our method for categorizing tropes into four types of framework tropes – Character Tropes, Storyline Tropes, Setting Tropes, and Relational Tropes.
The Storyline Tropes Encyclopedia includes detailed entries on favorite romance tropes like Accidental Marriage, Runaway Bride, Marriage of Convenience, Fake Relationship, Time Travel, and more.
But this is more than a trope list – it’s an encyclopedia!
Each encyclopedia entry includes an introduction to the trope itself, as well as information on why readers love the trope, what expectations exist in the stories, pitfalls that authors need to avoid, and common plot devices used. We'll cover how the these storyline tropes play into the conflict and theme of the story.
Plus, we'll show you how to use a Storyline Trope in a way that still feels fresh and interesting!
Having your characters locked in a room together isn't enough to make it a "Forced Proximity" romance that readers will love – but we’ll tell you what will. And then we’ll do it for Marriage Pacts, Matchmakers Gone Wrong, and more.
The Storyline Trope Encyclopedia is designed to be used at every stage of planning, writing, and publishing your books. If used effectively, the Storyline Trope Encyclopedia will help you write a romance that readers will love, but also help you market that book to get it into the hands of readers who will devour it.
We’ve studied thousands of books and movies, polled readers and studied the market to understand not just which Storyline Tropes work – but WHY they work and why readers love them. And knowing why they work means you can put them to work for you.
Harness the power of Storyline Tropes to make your book marketable, multi-dimensional, and satisfying so readers will come back again and again.
The Romance Writer’s Encyclopedia Series breaks down our method for categorizing tropes into four types of framework tropes – Character Tropes, Storyline Tropes, Setting Tropes, and Relational Tropes.
The Storyline Tropes Encyclopedia includes detailed entries on favorite romance tropes like Accidental Marriage, Runaway Bride, Marriage of Convenience, Fake Relationship, Time Travel, and more.
But this is more than a trope list – it’s an encyclopedia!
Each encyclopedia entry includes an introduction to the trope itself, as well as information on why readers love the trope, what expectations exist in the stories, pitfalls that authors need to avoid, and common plot devices used. We'll cover how the these storyline tropes play into the conflict and theme of the story.
Plus, we'll show you how to use a Storyline Trope in a way that still feels fresh and interesting!
Having your characters locked in a room together isn't enough to make it a "Forced Proximity" romance that readers will love – but we’ll tell you what will. And then we’ll do it for Marriage Pacts, Matchmakers Gone Wrong, and more.
The Storyline Trope Encyclopedia is designed to be used at every stage of planning, writing, and publishing your books. If used effectively, the Storyline Trope Encyclopedia will help you write a romance that readers will love, but also help you market that book to get it into the hands of readers who will devour it.
We’ve studied thousands of books and movies, polled readers and studied the market to understand not just which Storyline Tropes work – but WHY they work and why readers love them. And knowing why they work means you can put them to work for you.
Harness the power of Storyline Tropes to make your book marketable, multi-dimensional, and satisfying so readers will come back again and again.
- GenresWriting
433 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 10, 2024
19 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 5, 2024
First, I received an advance copy of Storyline Tropes, and what follows are my own take-aways.
First, the opening chapters are worth reading! Different writers seem to have different impressions of tropes, which makes it hard to have a learning experience if you don’t understand the definition and how tropes are useful. The authors also talk about combining tropes, one of the best ways to create a rich, complex story.
Other first-half chapters combine to make an overall short-course in writing a book that hits the mark with conflict, theme and structure.
The tropes themselves are grouped by category, and each is listed with 1) why readers love it and 2) reader expectations, both crucial to writing books that readers will gobble up. These are followed by 3) Potential Pitfalls, 4) Frequently Paired Tropes, 5) Common Plot Devices, and 6) key moments (how this trope can work with particular plot points).
After the intro, I went straight to “fish out of water,” a trope I use often: usually a city gal with a cowboy and his ranch. Reading that section gave me a nice feeling of doing things right, as well as good tips to avoid stereotypes in secondary characters.
The most intriguing part for me was reading tips on tropes that I haven’t used before. They triggered ideas for my cowboys and their sweethearts (as well as ideas for totally different books that don’t fit my plan). As I browsed, possible story lines for my ranches swirled through my mind, and I found myself going to different sections to see what trope I could layer with another.
All in all, a good resource. I got plenty out of it, and I’m eager to go get the Character Trope book.
First, the opening chapters are worth reading! Different writers seem to have different impressions of tropes, which makes it hard to have a learning experience if you don’t understand the definition and how tropes are useful. The authors also talk about combining tropes, one of the best ways to create a rich, complex story.
Other first-half chapters combine to make an overall short-course in writing a book that hits the mark with conflict, theme and structure.
The tropes themselves are grouped by category, and each is listed with 1) why readers love it and 2) reader expectations, both crucial to writing books that readers will gobble up. These are followed by 3) Potential Pitfalls, 4) Frequently Paired Tropes, 5) Common Plot Devices, and 6) key moments (how this trope can work with particular plot points).
After the intro, I went straight to “fish out of water,” a trope I use often: usually a city gal with a cowboy and his ranch. Reading that section gave me a nice feeling of doing things right, as well as good tips to avoid stereotypes in secondary characters.
The most intriguing part for me was reading tips on tropes that I haven’t used before. They triggered ideas for my cowboys and their sweethearts (as well as ideas for totally different books that don’t fit my plan). As I browsed, possible story lines for my ranches swirled through my mind, and I found myself going to different sections to see what trope I could layer with another.
All in all, a good resource. I got plenty out of it, and I’m eager to go get the Character Trope book.
May 12, 2024
A brilliant resource! It unpacks the purpose and nature of tropes and their use in storytelling, then part three dives into each storyline trope found in romances. This is not a cursory overview - for each trope, they unpack the reason it works for readers, expectations and common devices used for each trope, and pitfalls to beware of. The last section analyzes specific movies, which was very helpful to me to take these ideas from theory to specific practice. With insight into human nature and reader expectations, the authors have created a resource for anyone looking to take tropes, and their writing, to the next level. I'll definitely be checking my copy not only during the brainstorming and plotting process, but as I draft, to make sure I'm using the tropes to work for my story and for my readers.
May 8, 2024
This book is a great resource for authors wanting to explore tropes and how to use different storylines for the best version of their story! It’s easy to flip through if there’s a certain trope you’re interested in, and each section is detailed with what the particular storyline element usually entails, what the reader expects, pitfalls to avoid, and common ways it is used within the framework of a story. Besides the encyclopedia entries, the beginning of the book also discusses general story craft, including how and why to use tropes and the impact of theme. I’d recommend it as a valuable resource to any romance writer’s shelf!
December 31, 2024
This is an incredibly valuable resource for anyone writing in the romance genre (or even writing romance subplots). I can't wait to pick up the rest of the series.
This book showed me some tropes I hadn't thought about before, and for each trope, it pointed out what readers love about it (the stuff you must put in) and the potential areas where each trope could go very wrong (what could make people hate it).
This book showed me some tropes I hadn't thought about before, and for each trope, it pointed out what readers love about it (the stuff you must put in) and the potential areas where each trope could go very wrong (what could make people hate it).
June 4, 2024
Love this book! Fabulous reference guide for romance authors or those who have strong romance subplots. It’s not just a list as stated in title an encyclopedia along with key tips not only for writing but marketing.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews