Don't Stop Repeating: Tropes & Retellings

“I’m worried my idea has been done before. Maybe I shouldn’t write it.” I hear a version of this a lot as a writing coach. My answer is always: “Yes! You should write it!” Just because the basic idea has been done doesn’t mean your story has been told. Retellings of fairy tales and myths are hugely popular and everyone loves a good trope. Because it’s all about what you and your imagination brings to the characters and the story that makes it unique.

What is a Trope?

Technically, a trope can mean a few different things, but for the sake of this blog we’re talking about a common theme. It could be “beauty and the beast”, “locked room murder”, “the chosen one saves the world”, “Grumpy/sunshine romance”- you get the idea.

Think of the trope as the building block. The frame you’re going to build your story on. Like beams for a house, it might give some basic structure, but it doesn’t tell us what the final project will look like. Have you ever driven through a neighborhood where the builders used the same basic shape for all the houses? The houses are all still different, aren’t they? Some brick, some panel, some grey, some blue. The garage is on the left for some and the right for others. Landscaping is totally different on all of them. They’re even more different when you go inside- materials, furnishings, paint. But the frame was the same.

Think of the trope like those houses. The frame is the same. In an enemies-to-lovers romance we know the people who start out not liking each other are going to end up lovers. But that’s all we know. We don’t know why they don’t like each other. We don’t know how they’re going to go from hating each other to fallling in love. Who will fall first?  (Pride & Prejudice anyone?) Like all tropes, it isn’t about the frame, it’s the variations on the journey we’re always interested in.

What if Someone Else is Writing My Idea?

Think of how many authors have written books about Medusa in the last year or so. If you lined them all up and asked them what their book was about, they would all say “Medusa.” But each one of them was a completely different book. So, if you were writing a book about Medusa too, why would you think your book would be the same as Natalie Haynes’ Stone Blind? All it means is you weren’t the only person thinking “what if” about that myth just now- it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep going and write your story.

Anything that inspires you, be it a character or a time period, chances are pretty good that it will inspire someone else too. Will it inspire them at the exact same time that you’re writing? That happens sometimes. Maybe that means that the world just needs multiple books that retell a particluar story or follow a particular trope at the moment. Goodreads recently put out a list of upcoming books that are retellings of classics and if you look, you’ll notice there are multiples of some. Apparently it means multiple authors were thinking “what if” about Hamlet and Moby-Dick right now.

Those authors didn’t let that stop them from writing their books. Don’t let fear of comparison to other books stop you from writing yours!

Why Do We Love Tropes & Retellings?

Think about all the retellings or twists to myths and fairy tales that are so popular: why are they popular?  They are creating new, compelling characters with rich inner lives and moral dilemmas that have us on the edge of our seats. New worlds with new challenges or alien beings showing us that emotional problems can be the same no matter how many galaxies away we travel. 

And we get a sense of comfort, I think, that we know (or think we know) the basic framework of the plot.

I think that’s why we keep reading books in our favorite trope, or retellings of our favorite fairy tale. We enjoy when an author can create a twist we never imagined, but don’t we usually really enjoy seeing how many variations of a favorite book can be done? I can’t tell you how many retellings on Pride & Prejudice I’ve read. I can’t say I thought they all worked for me, but many did.

Especially when it is something like romance. I’m always asked why I read romance, and plenty of people look down at the genre and those who read it (a rant for another time!). After all, you know the main characters get together at the end. So why bother?  Well, why did so many people go to see Titanic over and over again? We all knew that ship would sink at the end. But before it did we were introduced to the richness of a long-gone era, to an entire range of characters both heroic and not, and got a glimpse into their lives and what they would do when the worst happened.

Like Pride & Prejudice, we may know how the story ends. But a lot happens before you get to the end and we want to experience the journey of well-written characters as they get there. 

Are you looking for a writing, marketing coach or a developmental editor? Contact me and let’s talk about your project!