Gallery
A place where you can find funny writing memes, constructive quotes, helpful hints that I've found during my writing career, as well as tutorial videos or videos about fantasy tropes and the like.
Fantasy Tropes
Tropes are a staple part of writing, regardless of the genre used. They differ from cliche in that a trope is a significant or recurrent theme, whilst a cliche is something overused or lacking original thought (Oxford Dictionary, 2025). In the case of writing, a trope is something we see often whilst a cliche is a trope overused and has now become redundant and/or boring.
"There is no such thing as an original idea."
- MARK TWAIN
(reportedly)
Every story written has been done thousands of times before. As a writer, we have to work out how to make ours unique from those that came before. A way to do this is to take a trope and flip it on its head. A trope can be used to help provide a familiar structure, easing the reader into the chosen genre, but what makes it different from a cliche is that it can be done in many different ways.
In this video series, I take a look at some of the best and worst tropes often seen in fantasy and discuss why they work and how we can change it up to avoid it becoming a cliche. Some of those i will discuss include:
- The Chosen One
- The Mentor
- Medieval Settings
- Supernatural Love Interest
- Prophecy
- Ancient Artifacts
- Enemies to Lovers
I will also talk about different tropes around characters themselves such as the Five Man Band or the Freudian Trio and how we can use these to make our stories fresh and unique.
If you enjoy these videos, make sure to let me know in the comments of each video what other tropes you'd like me to discuss and i'll add them to the list if not already there :)
The Chosen One
A common staple of the fantasy genre is that of the Chosen One - a hero who has been picked long before their birth to be the one who will save the world from the threat of the villain.
Prophecy
Linking closely to the Chosen One trope, fantasy authors love to use Prophecy to add a layer to that chosen one status. Here we learn who the hero is and what challenges they have to overcome before they can meet their nemesis on the field of battle.
The Mentor
All heroes need a good mentor to help guide them on their way. Obi Wan to Luke Skywalker, Gandalf to Frodo, Moiraine to Rand al'Thor. Who else is going to tell our hero what they have to do and where they're supposed to go?
Sealed Evil in
a Can
Not all villains will be there from the get-go. Some like to hide away until the end of the story then appear to destroy the group of heroes who have vanquished all its minions.
