Tropes and formulaic writing are essential for genre fiction. I personally don't believe there's such a thing as an over used trope. If I'm reading a romance novel, it's because I know what I can expect going into it. It's enjoyable because it's formulaic. I love nothing more than There was only one bed! or And they were roommates! or a nice May-December relationship. I know what I'm getting if a work has these tags.

'Overused tropes' are 'overused' usually because people enjoy reading about them.

If you don't want to write a book with a "spunky Mary Sue protagonist who falls into a potentially supernatural love triangle, gets superpowers, and leads an army" then don't write it. I personally dislike love triangles and usually nope right out of a fic that has them. You'll find your own audience eventually if you keep writing what you want.

Go look at the recent thread about what people look for in horror. Look at all the different answers. Some people covet gore and murder and some people (me) want the creepy footsteps and the sense of something being 'off.' Everyone has different tastes and that thread is a great example of it

Edit - Here's the link

How long have you been writing?

I mean if you are not an expert (experienced) writer then its fine to fall on tropes and formulas-- especially since you haven't even figured out your style completely yet.

I remember being told in school that when writing papers, you have to have a proper introduction/thesis. However, she did mention that that was not always the writing style in other countries, and sometimes thesis would be put in the middle, at the end, or have the thesis slowly be introduced through out the paper. And I remember reading Austrian research papers being formatted different than Americans ones.

I think a lot of it is just cultural. I think people expect writing, be it for academic or creative, to be set up a certain way.

However, I sort of like the idea of a plot that is not liner but a spiral. But that is not really how people are encouraged to write.

There is only one rule—tell a story that makes it impossible to put the book down about the characters that get to you. Not every book is for everyone.

The tropes are distilled from the very beginning of the modern novel. If you look at the plot wheels popular in 19th century, if you look at Pamela, you will already see the same plot kernels that get people invested.

Plot structure is a good idea however. I feel that using 15 plotbeats when outlining my novels helped me to keep the story tighter, do not forget about important stuff, like personal growth.

In particular, the Pivotal Mid-Book event is something that I find is hard to do ‘by ear’. I think it has to be there from day one of the outline. And that it benefits the book tremendously, helping with the build up and the unfolding of the ups and downs afterward, toward the ending.

Naturally, I am a writer that gets involved with ‘what happened’ and plot links. I have to work from the start on giving my characters a growth arc, the NEED and WANT. And it helps me with building a cohesive story, where everything has a purpose.

I used to really push against doing formulas in writing--mostly out of spite because I don't like being told what to do. But, I realized one day that formulas and tropes that we use in writing stories are almost like a language unto themselves. Kinda out there but bear with me--a lot in the same way that it is very difficult to build a good sentence without any grammar (although that is possible!) it's really hard to build a story without a structure.

The formulas exist because people wanted to put a name to what these structures are. It's not meant to box us in, but to tell us how to communicate better. And a lot of tropes that we use are simply the cause and effect of having used those story structures.

So if you're writing a mystery--of course you would use red herrings. If you're writing a romance--you're probably going to have to introduce some form of suspense, and a lot of people use love triangles because...those do happen in real life, it's a very real experience (although I'm usually on the losing end of that experience haha).

It's a little what came first, the chicken or the egg, type of situation, but it's really just learning to be more clear when you tell a story. So you don't meander and get lost while you're writing, leaving your readers confused.

And like I do think that we stick very closely to formula in published work and movies because they're so expensive to make, they don't want to lose money on their investment by doing something different, but to me that's more about marketing and business than it is about forming a story.

Romancing the Beat is literally one of the most important references I use. Romance arcs have very explicit expectations and it's been a lifesaver with making my romances feel more captivating. After getting used to it, I've edited it a little bit so it fits my writing style better but man. When I was first starting out with romance arcs it was rough until I found this.

You're, of course, free to do whatever you'd like with your writing. However, part of that comes with if you're doing something very outside of the box, you may only attract a niche crowd with it.

I personally feel the formulas hold a lot of value. Not only does a reader know what they're getting into with a book, but it can be tricky at times to hold a reader's attention, keep them engaged in the story and your characters. Hence, the formulas. They won't apply to everyone, but they exist because they work. Bending those formulas can work if executed properly.

But in this instance, I do also think its important to critically think about the feedback you were given (assuming you asked for it, if not then disregard ) The whole point of feedback is to look at what might not be working for the reader. Personal tastes play a role in feedback but if you have multiple people tell you "This is not working for me."

You gotta have an honest conversation with yourself.

You either look at the feedback, and come to the conclusion of "you know what, I didn't pull this off as well as I thought, let me try something else." or you say "screw them, I'm doing what I want."

Ultimately, that's up to you. If you are set on sticking to the way you have it, then so be it, but be aware, if you're responding in such a way that you didn't like the fact that they criticized you (which I hope was done in a professional/politeway), then your missing a chance to improve your skill.

You also don't have to take feedback at all. If the feedback doesn't work for you, then move on. Everyone is different and you can do whatever you want, but self-evaluation is important too.

Tropes and cliches will always exist. They aren't inherently bad things, they can be used to a writer's advantage. They exist and stay because people like them. Others might not like them, but they find something that does.

The point: You can't please everyone. Do what you want with your writing, but understand that certain structures of writing exist because they work. Be open to feedback but don't feel like you have to change something because of it.

When I look at my old writing, I found that I did use a lot of tropes. Often times young writers write what they are exposed to, which is often tropes in media. When you grow older and experience more life in general, you find that your experience reflect in your writing. Because you had been exposed to new things and ideas, this helps you pull away from tropes, or make a trope new and interesting. I don't think that tropes are good or bad, because everything should be used in moderation. For example: there is an anime trope, where there is this very strong character who is at the top of there game, etc... and then are suddenly showed easily up by the main protagonist. This really annoys me, because said character earned that reputation, but lost it due to plot armor. I get the idea that showing the protagonist in a good/powerful light, but I want there to be a struggle, or loss. Something earned. The trope of a protagonist defeating a strong character is fine i have no issues with that, but I think tropes need substance to fill them out. I think that is what separates a good trope version and a bad one. Like the training montage of pikachu on the water wheel in order to defeat brock's onyx. You put the effort forth and earn it.
all and all: tropes and not good or bad, its the way your write them and present them.

Formulas are formulas for a reasons. Because generally, they work pretty solidly. Just the other day I was recommending someone with pacing issues follows the rough patterns of 1 season anime to help find a pacing that works well and holds the audience without rushing. They're often a really good starting point, after all.

I don't know if you've not quite explained this right, but that doesn't sound traditional, that sounds like bad exposition. When I think of bulk introductions, I think the way I did in my comic which was brief names and you'll work out the rest as it goes, natural with no exposition, or the anime style of introducing one character per episode in a drip feed, which is probably closer to what you're describing as your style, but by then the plot has started.

I think you're underestimating the realism of a lot of writers on Tapas. Or in general. Most writers I know aren't expecting a big movie deal, ever. I've not met anyone who's really pushed for a trilogy. Maybe out there in genre fiction land where publishers are churning out knock offs and rebranding to cash in, but most indie authors are here are writing a story they love first and foremost.

And let's be real, there are some pieces that hit every cliche you can name for their genre and are still amazing. Like we were talking about in the horror thread The Woman In Black hits almost every horror cliche there is? Still a work of art. I don't know how many of you have read Another rather than watched the anime, lots of cliche's and overdone YA tropes, still amazing.