Subgenres vs. Tropes

The Writing Forge

Amanda Headlee joins Miranda and Bonnie to discuss subgenres and tropes—their similarities, differences, and how you can utilize either to strengthen your writing.

Tips and Tricks:

• Properly identifying your subgenre can be important for marketing and successful sales.
• Sometimes a trope becomes popular and used enough to set up a whole subgenre.
• Depending on how much your story relies on a certain idea can determine whether it’s a trope or a subgenre.
• Subgenres and tropes are useful for setting reader expectations. If you’re heavily emphasizing certain tropes or aspects of your genre at the beginning of your book, then swap at the end you will probably confuse and disappoint your readers.
• Some tropes help move a story forward, but be wary of overusing common tropes and slipping into stereotypes and cliches.
• Genres go in cycles, with some subgenres becoming more popular then fading from popularity. What you see being traditionally published.

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Cover art by Maggie Walker