Navigating Tropes and Clichés in Genre Fiction

As you begin revising your November novel, you’ll probably notice a lot more about your manuscript now that you’re looking at it with a critical eye—some good, some that needs reworking. Today, writer Nathan Dhami is here to help you distinguish between tropes and clichés, and how they may help or hinder your novel:

Genre fiction, while being a very broad and catch-all term, is gaining mass appeal with contemporary audiences and writers alike. Newer writers may try writing their favorite genre, but might be lost as to where they should start. Maybe they are inspired by their favorite pieces in the genre they wish to emulate, but have no idea how to apply that inspiration. They may also be worried that their story is falling into trappings that leads to similar pieces being considered “boring” or “played out.” In other words, writers may have difficulty navigating and using the genre’s tropes in their own stories.