The Best Story Tropes of All Time (Do You Use Any?)

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While we often talk about tropes, cliches, and archetypes as things to avoid in your story, these elements are not always inherently bad. In fact, most stories will include at least one trope because they are the building blocks of effective story writing. In today’s video, I go over the best story tropes that have withstood the test of time and are still engaging with contemporary audiences. Plus, I share some recently published examples of books using these tropes to illustrate how they are still successfully used.

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GREAT BOOKS ABOUT WRITING/PUBLISHING:
Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer / https://amzn.to/3VE8dtt
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody / https://amzn.to/3Vyk2Bn
Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum / https://amzn.to/3Z4at03

SOME OF MY FAVORITE NOVELS:
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones / https://amzn.to/3vvWItt
Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips / https://amzn.to/3CFz4Pt
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid / https://amzn.to/3CjFFi5
 
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MORE WRITING RESOURCES:
Cliché Plot Tropes to Avoid:    • Cliché Plot Tropes to Avoid  
Overdone Plot Twists to Avoid:    • Overdone Plot Twists to Avoid  
5 Common Plot Mistakes and How to Fix Them:    • 5 Common Plot Mistakes and How to Fix...  
 
BEST STORY TROPES: 
01:57 – Contained setting
03:26 – Will they/won’t they?
04:38 – Outsider looking in
05:58 – Unreliable narrator
07:20 – Reckoning with the past
 
ABOUT ME: 
My name is Alyssa Matesic, and I’m a professional book editor with 7+ years of book publishing and editorial experience. Throughout my career, I’ve held editorial roles across both sides of the publishing industry: Big Five publishing houses and literary agencies. The goal of this channel is to help writers throughout the book writing journey—whether you're working on your manuscript or you're looking for publishing advice.
 
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Chilling by HoobeZa    • [No Copyright] Chill Lo-Fi Guitar Ins...  
Charlie Brown by Smith The Mister https://smiththemister.bandcamp.com 
Smith The Mister https://bit.ly/Smith-The-Mister-YT 
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