If you read or write genre fiction, you are definitely familiar with tropes. Tropes are devices that can create familiarity in a story, move the plot along, and satisfy reader’s expectations, like the happy ever after of a romance novel, or the reveal of the murderer in the whodunnit.

I write genre fiction:  suspense/thriller and horror. So what are some common tropes for these genres?

POTENTIAL SUSPENSE THRILLER TROPES

*    Psychological (dreams/hallucinations/psychological manipulation/gaslighting)

*    Isolation (out of the way location/confinement)

*    Obsession (fixation on a person or a thing)

*    Paranoia (distrust/fear/being watched/being followed)

*    Twists (red herrings/surprises/secrets)

*    Missing person

*    Toxic relationships (abuse: mental/physical)

*    Blackmail

POTENTIAL HORROR TROPES

*    An abandoned place (old house/closed factory/dark cemetery/creepy basement)

*    Nightmares (could turn out to be real)

*    Shadows/Noises/Entities

*    Missing objects

*    Weather (thunderstorms/fog/extreme winds)

*    Being all alone/isolation

*    Strange characters (like a neighbor/hitchhiker)

*    Seeing things (in mirrors/windows)

*    Loss of communication (phone/internet/power)

*    Helplessness

*    Characters split up

*    Twist Endings

Take a favorite book and see how many of these tropes you can find, but remember…

EVERY BOOK DOES NOT HAVE TO HAVE EVERY TROPE!