How to use tropes!

Firstly, what are tropes?

Tropes are literary devices used in various works. They are a form of figurative language found in fiction that are generally used for artistic effect, and are commonly recurring literary and rhetorical devices, motifs or clichés in creative works. Unlike cliches, they are usually interesting and may not be overused.

The word "Trope" comes from the Greek τρόπος (tropos), "turn, direction, way", derived from the verb τρέπειν (trepein), "to turn, to direct, to alter, to change". Tropes and their classification were an important field in classical rhetoric.

Speaking about tropes, there are many ways of using them.

• Playing a trope straight would mean adding the trope as per normal in the work.
• Subverting a trope requires that the audience expects a certain trope to occur, but ultimately does not. 
• A Double Subversion on the other hand would mean that a trope is expected to occur, but initially doesn't, then circumstances cause it to happen anyway, playing it straight.
• Averting a trope requires a situation where a trope can occur, but it doesn't- A supermajority of works that have element A will also have trope A, but work W has element A without trope A
• Inverting a trope requires turning the trope on its head. For example, a trope that typically applies to heroes is applied to a villain, or a trope that typically applies to males is applied to a female character, or the other way around.
• Justifying a trope occurs when an explanation is provided for a trope that would otherwise be illogical or cliched in a story.
• Downplaying a trope generally means that the trope is played to a lighter extent than in most fictions.
• Lampshade Hanging requires that the narrator, a character in the work, or the author themselves points out a trope that is happening or would happen in the story. This assures the audience that the author is aware of the implausible plot development that just happened.
• A Deconstructed Trope is when a trope are played for realism. The trope is intentionally used, explored, and examined in great detail, usually to try and show what circumstances would cause the trope to manifest in real life and/or what the real-life consequences of this trope would be.
• A Reconstruction occurs when the lessons learned from Deconstructing a trope are applied to help improve a concept.

There are several other ways of using tropes besides these ways. Head to TvTropes if you want to find out more!

Tips for writing an Original Character

Some tips on making an Original Character for Original Fiction

1. Interesting Story/Backstory

This is the origin of your character and how they are built into the person they are today. Get your viewers to know who your character is and how they got this far

Note that it may not be original due to the off chance that other fiction writers had a similar concept to yours in mind.

2. Give your character some cool and desirable traits

This is what makes your character appealing. Positive traits will help establish that your character is good at certain things, and they can tie in with the character's personality.

3. Give your characters flaws to balance them out

It's great to give your character positive traits, but one must also give them flaws to balance them out and make them as believable as possible. Make sure that said flaws also have an impact on their lives as well as relations.

If possible, let their character flaw get the character into a troublesome consequence that helps them learn their lesson and change for the better.

Important note: Don't give a flaw that makes them too hated, like being constantly helpless or irritating. This would make others hate your character.

4. Give your character powers/abilities

Basically what your character is going to be good at. Doesn't need to be powers, it can be excelling at a mundane task.

5. Scale your character's power level and give drawbacks

You can make a character "overpowered", provided that their opponents/problems are on the same level as them. Otherwise they'll become boring as they can reliably solve problems without much hassle- it's the challenge that develops them properly. Another good way to solve this is to have their power require repercussions, or something that goes against their nature. 

My example of a character: Calia Rayfer

1.

The planet of Terra 102 is ruled over by the benevolent leader President Maximillian Rayfer. After marrying a mysterious woman and having a daughter Calia, his wife left one day, putting little Calia into his hands. Being his only child, President Rayfer is very protective of Calia, who unfortunately is a prime kidnapping target of many evil factions around the galaxy due to her inherent powers. 

Time passed on, and Calia, having been broken by multiple kidnappings, decided to fight for her own self. She found a teacher to train her to use her powers, joined her planet's army, and to this day she fights the same evil forces on her planet who once sought to use her for their own gain.

2.

Calia is a very determined yet intellectual character. She quickly analyzes a situation before deciding the right method to approach, and will not give up no matter how big the problem she faces is. This in turn also makes her a great leader and Captain as she can carry out her plan and tactics properly. Being very level headed, she is able to think straight even in tense situations.

3.

Calia has a rather vain/bossy streak thanks to having the authority to do so. She will not hesitate to use her status as an army Captain as well as the President's child to force others into doing things for her. Of course, not everybody complies with her, particularly those of higher rank, and those who do comply often hate her behind her back, sometimes even telling it to her face. In one instance, this leads to her squad temporarily abandoning her, which she gets into trouble for.

4.

With the ability to manipulate both cold as well as the solid state of matter, Calia is extremely powerful. She can create, move or destroy any form of solid matter, transmute matter into a solid of her choice, and control the flow of heat away from an object. In battle, Calia tends to create shards of crystal to attack her opponents, or turn the area into a frozen hell by removing the heat from it.

5.

Calia has potential planet-destroying power, but in order for her to use it she has to consume sentient souls, which she is hesitant on doing. Her sense of justice also interferes with this- the one time she was forced to use such powers, many innocent lives were lost, and she had a breakdown from that. Furthermore, the enemies she has to face are extremely powerful, and are immune to her transmutation ability which would otherwise kill any normal opponent.

In order for Calia to use her solid creation or transmutation powers, she first needs to understand the type of solid she is creating. As such, she has to spend much of her time reading books on Chemistry and Physics. She also requires a high level of spatial thought in order for her to shape her attacks accurately.

Tv Tropes

Today, I'll be discussing about one of the communities I have joined over the years: Tv Tropes!

The website is mainly about tropes, literary devices that we use in various fictions in order to make them interesting. Like Wikipedia, it also contains real and fictional works, but the website mainly focuses on the tropes present in the works instead of the main information.

The community at TvTropes is very friendly, especially towards newbies. This is something that is rather hard to find around most of the internet. Most Tropers in the forums are eager to welcome you, are ready to accept you as a friend, and are generally friendly towards others. In fact, I've made most of my online friends over there.

Be warned- while TvTropes is a friendly place, it is also very addicting. If one is not browsing tropes, the forums are a very good way to kill time without one noticing it. I've wasted a number of days spending all my time on TvTropes.

You can find more information about TvTropes here.

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