8 Writing Tropes that NEED to stop.

Now I am no authority on storytelling but I certainly know what I like and don't like. I’ve also started to notice a myriad of writing tropes that just feel like lazy cop outs for bad writers. Here are eight writing tropes that just need to stop.

‘Remember that time…’:

Hey, remember that time when we went out to the lake and I sat you down and asked you if you remembered that time when I remembered what you remembered. You don’t? Because nobody talks like this and writers use this device all the time. It’s not even the fact that no one talks like this, it’s that so many writers use this trope and it’s starting to feel lazy. Find a different way to integrate that anecdote into your story or maybe just scrap it all together. Character anecdotes are important, but a character simply telling another character a story out of the blue random nowhere just doesn’t feel authentic and is overdone.

Someone saying something that gives someone an idea:

This one really tells you that the writing is lazy. The characters will be all having a chat and someone will say something that just doesn’t fit the conversation.

Person A:‘I just don’t know we need to be explosive.’

Person B: ‘What did you say?’

Parson A: ‘Explosive…’

Person B: ‘I have an idea’

What if they never said that specific set of words? The plot just wouldn’t move forward. What annoys me most about this is that your plot needs to be the reason for your plot moving forward. Having someone just say something is not diegetic to the plot of the story. Good writing will have the characters and their journey be the reason the plot moves forward, not some off handed comment because they couldn’t be bothered to write anything decent.

‘What’s the signal, you’ll know’:

What do you MEAN I’ll ‘know’, this is a high stakes situation that requires full coordination from the entire team or this, seemingly, well thought out plan. What if they don’t catch the signal? What if they misinterpret it? What’s even MORE annoying is that this trope has a simple fix. If you want this elusive signal to be a story beat moment between two characters just have the character giving the signal whisper it to the character receiving the signal. That’s it, that's all you need to do.

The toxic man who was ‘right’ all along:

This one annoys me so much because it’s far more prevalent than you may think at first. A prime example is the movie State of Play, where a journalist sends an intern to do an illegal interview that he himself was meant to conduct, which leads the young intern to almost get snipes. Why didn’t he go himself? Because he wanted to go on a date with his best friend's wife. He also REPEATEDLY takes part in practices that should ruin his journalistic intent but doesn’t. But he gets the story at the end so he’s the hero??? Too many writers don’t want their main character to be seen as the bad guy but that leaves no room for shades of grey. Look at Peaky Blinders for example. Tommy Shelby is NOT a good person at all but the show doesn’t hide away from that at all and it also doesn’t paint him in a good light or a bad one. It’s okay for your main character to be shitty, it allows for much better storytelling.

Older people knowing what’s best:

Has an old person ever said anything of note BECAUSE they’re old? From my experience they’re usually racists. Wisdom from an older person can work but when someone is assumed to be smarter because they’re older? It’s a strange self congratulating thing for writers to do and feels lazy. There’s no storyline reason for them to be smarter aside from being older? Netflix’s Top Boy addresses this really well with the introduction of the character Jamie. A significantly younger character who is as good as our previous protagonists. In fact their age proves to serve them badly in the show as it creates arrogance.

Rap battles:

Now I get it, people like rap battles but the entire appeal of a rap battle is that it’s genuine barbs between two people. As soon as those barbs are fake or written it loses all appeal. I’m gonna straight up say it, that scene at the end of 8 Mile SUCKS. Especially now that Anthony Mackie is an A-lister, we all KNOW that isn’t Clarence, we know he didn't go to private school. The bars lose all impact. You just engineered a moment doing the battle backwards.

‘It was you this whole time ’SO YOU KNEW BUT DIDN’T TELL ME?’:

This makes little to no sense in Surely not telling them is more dangerous? every film, TV show or book it’s ever been in. Why wouldn’t you tell someone that they are special? ‘The special was in you all along’ so why not tell them? If Aang didn’t know he was the avatar it may have led to him using his immense powers in the wrong way. It’s also overdone to the point that most audiences can now tell when it’s going to happen.

A character not actually dying and coming back.:

If I don’t see them die, they didn't die. If I don’t see a funeral with an open casket, they ain’t dead. This trope either needs to stop or writers need to find a way to convince us that they are actually dead. And don't pull some Narnia nonsense and bring them BACK to life. If they die, have them dead. It feels like an absolute cop out. When someone dies in a story it’s a writer making an active decision to make the audience react in a specific way, as soon as you take a step back on that decision it makes any following emotional beats feel hollow. At least Black Panther showed us T’Challa falling to his death.