Romance Tropes Resonate

Dear Maggie,

What favorite tropes do you like to use in your romance writing? Why do you think tropes are so much fun?

Sincerely,

Curious in Carmel

Dear Curious,

First off, for those readers unfamiliar with the idea of a trope, I lifted this definition from dictionary.com: A trope is “a convention or device that establishes a predictable or stereotypical representation of a character, setting, or scenario in a creative work.” Some familiar tropes in romance include second-chance love, age gap, bodyguard, enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend, rock star romance, and I could go on and on! Themes like these have graduated to trope status in the romance world because they’re so popular, and you probably gravitate toward certain books because you really enjoy that featured trope. Me too!

I just finished writing a romance short story for class featuring a runaway bride. It’s a trope I’ve never tried my hand at, but it was so much fun that I may turn it into a full-length novel. With my romantic suspense books, I’ve definitely featured some popular tropes along the way. These include rock star romance in Sing for Me, best friend’s sister and age gap in Run and Hide, girl next door and best friend’s brother in Lost and Found, and reverse bodyguard in Moving Target. Accidentally on purpose, I generally write the tropes I most like to read, and I’m sure readers like certain books in that series better than other because it features one or more of their favorite tropes. This is great! We love what we love!

A reader may be drawn to one of my books because it features a favorite trope, but it’s my job to give the theme a fresh take and keep that reader invested. One of the keys to giving tried and true tropes new life is to create unique, well-developed characters. If I’ve done my job well, readers will care deeply about those characters and want to follow them on their journey. By giving the characters compelling backstories and engaging personalities, and filling them out with believable quirks and flaws, I hope readers will fall in love with them and keep on turning the page!

Thanks for reaching out! If you have a question for me, send it to maggie@msmaggieclare.com, and I’ll answer it here on the blog.