Learning with the Trope Thesaurus

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a huge fan of resource books. I like to read for fun, not feel like I’m back in school reading a textbook. However, I heard about The Trope Thesaurus by Jennifer Hilt in a Facebook group and decided to read the sample. I knew then that I had to have this book.

There is so much talk about tropes especially when it comes to marketing your book. It’s hard to know where to start or what is even in your book. It’s like when you have to tell someone about your book, you know the one you wrote, and you somehow forget everything. That’s how it feels trying to define the tropes in your book. So let me go ahead and tell you why I think this book is worth the money.

The Trope Thesaurus

Goodreads Synopsis: Even a quick glance at popular books, movies, and streaming series says it all– a skillful application of tropes sells stories. That’s because tropes create a foundation between the audience and the action. I’m not suggesting we slap a few tropes together and call it done. I’m talking about twisting tropes to create characters that fans can’t stop thinking about to increase story conflict. How do we do that? By digging down into the functions of tropes. But isn’t a trope just a trope? What do secret baby, road trip, and revenge have in common? Conflict. Conflict. Conflict. The Trope Thesaurus explores tropes common in romance, mystery, suspense, thriller, science fiction, and fantasy. It also features a listing of tropes with their definitions, along with some ideas about how to use them more effectively to craft stronger stories. New and established writers will appreciate this different take on a craft topic in the quest to become a fan favorite.

Source: Owned Paperback

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This is such a unique book that provides writers a way to develop their characters and stories. Not only does the author provide detailed information about tropes themselves, but also a look into how to enhance your stories with tropes. She even provides examples to help you visualize everything. I could honestly go on and on about this book, so let me break it down a bit for you.

Writing Style

Jennifer Hilt writes this book as if writing to a friend. It is inviting and provides a connection as a writer to another writer. She leaves a fun quirkiness on the pages.

The Information

I didn’t know what to expect, but The Trope Thesaurus is FULL of information and not just about tropes. Jennifer goes into details about characterization and how tropes play a role into the characters. She dives deep into various examples. It’s with this information that I feel I was actually able to understand the entirely of tropes.

My favorite part is the alphabetical list of tropes at the end of the book. Each written out and explained in a way that I can easily reference in the future.

If you’re looking for a resource book that not only explains but provides detailed examples then The Trope Thesaurus is for you. I realized right away that this wasn’t like a textbook at all. Instead, it felt like a friend sharing information about tropes. Page by page I devoured this book. I like how this book is broken down into Romance, Mystery, and Fantasy then further broken down into subcategories. The list of tropes and explanations of them is a resource I will 100% be using with all of my future book releases.

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