WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR AMERICAN GODS, LAGAAN, LORD OF THE RINGS, TREASURE ISLAND, AND CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON. And he sang to them, now in the Elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Bittersweet Ending
Tag: tropes and cliches
Trope Tuesday: Childhood Friend Romance
There’s something heartwarming about a romantic couple that knew each other as children. Maybe it’s that return to innocence, or a sense that destiny is on your side, but I find these kinds of stories hopeful and encouraging. My favorite example of this is probably Deanna and Michael from For Better or for Worse. My… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Childhood Friend Romance
Trope Tuesday: Recycled IN SPACE!
Or, as my friends at Leading Edge would say, IN SPAAACE!!! The basic idea behind this trope is that setting a story in space makes it cool and different. The tvtropes article focuses mainly on how this trope is used in children’s cartoons, but it actually goes much wider. In fact, most space stories are… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Recycled IN SPACE!
Trope Tuesday: Pet the Dog
The basic principle behind this trope is that when you want your readers to feel some kind of sympathy toward a character, have them pet a puppy / puppy equivalent. Often used to show who the good guy is, but can also be used to add depth to a villain. I first learned about this… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Pet the Dog
Fighting for a Homeland
For the past few weeks, I’ve been brainstorming ideas for my next big novel project. One of the ways I’ve been doing this is to by trawling tvtropes and putting together a mashup of the story tropes I’d like to play with. By far, the one that’s struck me the most is Fighting for a Homeland.… Continue reading Fighting for a Homeland
Guest post: Developing Characters in a Fantasy Setting
Nathan Major is a friend and fellow writing who, like me, has taken the epublishing route for his first novel, Paradise Seekers. I met him through our mutual friend Charlie at Brandon Sanderson’s English 318 class. His book is pretty good; I’m only partway through it right now, but he’s playing with some interesting fantasy… Continue reading Guest post: Developing Characters in a Fantasy Setting