Tropes: A Quick Reference Guide is a dictionary style book of writing tropes. I listed the tropes alphabetically, instead of by genre or theme, to make it easier to look up specific ones. This book started when I was writing my first novel, Loving the Unlovable. While writing and researching, I wondered what different tropes meant and which ones might work in my story. Eventually, I realized that most information about tropes lumped them into specific genres, character arcs, or formats. I just wanted to know what their definitions. I wasn’t interested in having someone tell me how they had to be used.
This lead me to creating a list of all the tropes I came across. After finishing my novel, I researched them to see how many I could find. The list was extensive, but simple. I wondered if any other writers would be interested in my list. Later, I was talking with my son, who enjoys role-playing games (RPGs), and he mentioned that something like my list would be great for gamers. They could flip through the book for ideas for their campaigns. I mentioned the project to another friend, who suggested that writing teachers would find something like this helpful for story starters, or writing challenge ideas, or even a lesson on tropes.
So, I did some more research and reached out to a few people who have extensive knowledge about writing. Pretty soon, I had what I referred to as a dictionary of tropes. Now I’m excited to announce that Tropes: A Quick Reference Guide, will be published on April 5, 2024 and is now available for preorder!