They only tell you what a thing might be, not what it is. I simultaneously love thinking through tropes, but hate using them as a guide. I understand why people like to do trope lists for books–a bullet-point format of why you might enjoy a given novel–but we all know that this merely skims the surface. We all know just about any trope can be executed wonderfully or poorly. And we all know that some books could never, ever be meaningfully distilled into mere tropes.
Try making a trope list for Middlemarch or The Brothers Karamazov and see how far you get! And if, by some miracle, you actually can extract a few clear tropes, tell me if that list gives you even the faintest notion of the true nature of the work.
Tropes are fun, but they clearly have their limits. Thinking in terms of tropes gives us mere dots on a graph so that we draw the slope we think exists and hope it hits the desired trajectory. But it is all so desperately inadequate.
The most interesting thing about tropes, in my humble opinion, is the WHY behind them. Why are we attracted to certain standard stories and situations. What draws us? What makes it work? What makes it fail?
Well turns out I have spent an inordinate amount of time on this very subject! Here I am listing every trope I’ve analyzed on this blog in one handy-dandy location. I haven’t done them all (obviously) but here they are in no particular order.
The Everlasting Trope: Enemies-to-Lovers
The Everlasting Trope: The Failed Hero
The Everlasting Trope: Redemption Arc
The Everlasting Trope: Battle Couple
The Everlasting Trope: The “Crew”
The Everlasting Trope: The Love Triangle
Everlasting Trope: Dash or Die
The Everlasting Trope: Anti-Hero
The Everlasting Trope: Bad Trope Edition [Not Like Other Girls]
Everlasting Trope: Disguised Noble Hero
The Everlasting Trope: Stable Boy among Kings.
The Everlasting Trope: The Chosen One
The Everlasting Trope: Star-Crossed Lovers, Friends, and Foes
The Everlasting Trope: The Dark Lord
The Everlasting Trope: King’s Return
The Everlasting Trope: Cinderella
On Tropes and Subversions Thereof
If your favorite (or least favorite!) trope is not on the list, let me know and I’ll dive into it. Because I want to know why we love what we love and why certain stories resonate time and time again, no matter how often they are told. I know there are some glaring exceptions (*cough cough* enemies to lovers *cough cough*…UPDATE. I HAVE NOW DONE THIS ONE)
J. L. Odom 
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