On the topic of Tropes.

 Today, I want to talk about tropes in writing. 
No one trope is better or worse than the next in my personal opinion and the reason I wanted to talk about tropes is because, recently I've been watching a LOT of youtube videos in the hopes of gaining some good writing advice.

Now, everyone's writing style is different and for the majority of the last eighteen years I poured out all of my creative writing ideas into text based role play. Yeah, it probably sounds silly but you might be surprised how many of us creative writers are voyaging through the great unknown on websites dating all the way back to Myspace and AOL Instant Messenger. 

Yeah, by some standards I'm probably considered an old timer.

For you Gen Z or X or Y or whatever you're called now days, Myspace was a social media site not unlike Facebook - eventually the owner, a guy named Tom (Tom, where are you old buddy, old pal?) he, I believe, sold Myspace to FB and got out of the social media business (at least as far as this writer knows, so don't quote me on that). And AOL Instant Messenger or AIM was like Discord. Get it? Good.

I promise, I'll get back on topic now.

Anyway, I found myself falling down the rabbit hole, countless videos talking about, "The Best Tropes In Fiction," or "Tropes that Publishers Are Tired of Seeing," "Tropes that I absolutely Hate," and "The Worst Tropes In Writing EVER!"

The truth is, tropes are tropes for a reason. They've been around the block a time or two and nothing is original anymore until YOU the writer, put your own personal spin on things.

If you love reading books about the hot jerk who always gets the girl just because he's hot but deep down he's really a total ass hole, good for you. You like those books. Even better if you like writing those books. There is NOTHING wrong with your favorite guilty pleasure trope whether it's in reading or in writing.

Let's say you personally are far beyond the years of young adulthood man/lady/non-binary, who adores young adult fiction where a brooding vampire falls for an insignificant human high schooler and through a curious course of events ends up saving her life a time or two. Yeah, everyone likes to make fun of this trope (but let's be honest, not a lot of people like admitting they read and enjoyed Twilight.) 

I READ AND ADORED TWILIGHT AND I AM NOT AFRAID TO ADMIT IT!

 Do you think less of me now, dear reader? Well, if you do, I seriously won't take it to heart, because we all like certain things that not everyone likes or is willing to admit that they liked for fear of some kind of social ridicule (even when you're living your, 'I'm a 32 year old lady' life and shouldn't be so concerned with what others think about you). 

If you are passionate about writing a bad ass biker dude whose hated by most people he meets, but secretly donates to homeless shelters, food pantries, and has paid more than his fair share of college tuition at strip clubs, DO IT. Got an amazing idea for a short story about a teenage werewolf who falls in love with a centuries old vampire parading as a teenager, WRITE IT, I'd actually like to know how that one turns out. 

Whatever trope is your cup it tea, either in reading or in writing, don't let someone else's personal opinion in the matter stop you from savoring every moment of it. Maybe you'll come across a book where, the specific trope is glaringly obvious but the writer did it in a way you'd never seen it done before. Maybe you'll come up with an incredible idea about a billionaire who falls in love with a peasant underling for no reason his friends can understand, he usually dates super models, what's he doing with Billy Goats Gruff, but YOU feel embarrassed to write it because the theme has been done to death... so what? Are you having fun? There, that's all that counts.

I kind of feel like this whole blog is just Auntie Cassie patting a lot of people on the back and telling them that it is OKAY to like what they like. Is it really hurting anyone? Nope, not a damn soul. So write those tropes baby, hiding under the covers with your guilty pleasure books and enjoy yourself.

Because I think Dita Von Teese said it best, "You could be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there's still going to be somebody who hates peaches."

Until the next one, bye-bye now.