Our Love Notes

Tropes, not Tripe

The word “trope” is a bad word for writers. It’s equivalent to the word “cliché” — something that bad writers utilize way too much.

However, for many romance readers, they like a certain trope. It’s up to you, as a writer, to breathe some originality into it. For example:

  • Twins trope: One is good, one is bad.
  • Twins. Both are good.
  • Twins. Both are bad.

Can you, as a writer, bring your own voice into that idea? Of course! Readers who are looking for “twin’s tropes” will find your story.

Be careful about using too many tropes, though. Small-town twins where the twins are the billionaires and they fall in love with a motorcycle pair of twins who are bad boys, and one of the billionaire twins has a secret baby may be a little too unbelievable.

When we read your story, we expect a fresh voice with our tropes. In fact, if we know the trope is on the first page, we know what to expect. Destroy our expectations!

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