Tropes.
*dramatic sigh*
The foundations. The cornerstones. The addictions. *cough, cough*
But let’s back it up. If you don’t know what in the world a trope is, here is Wikipedia’s definition:
The word trope has also come to be used for describing commonly recurring literary and rhetorical devices, motifs or clichés in creative works.
– Wikipedia
So, in other, much simpler words: are you a lover of big, heroic quests? Check – that’s a trope. Enemies to lovers? *giddy hands* The Chosen One? *dramatic Star Wars music*. Those are all tropes.
And now you know what I mean by the foundations, cornerstones, and the *ahem* addictions of literature. Every book has at least one trope. Harry Potter? Right off the bat, I can name two: The Chosen One and the big, heroic quest. Lord of the Rings? Easy- the big, heroic quest. You get the point.
So for this post, I’m going to be talking about one of my favorites:
Found Families.
The most well-known example of this that I can come up with is Star Wars. If you haven’t watched A New Hope, it’s okay, you don’t need to know much. *Minor spoilers ahead, though.*
Alright, so at the beginning of the movie, our main character is the orphan Luke Skywalker. He’s helping his aunt and uncle run a farm on his home planet but he dreams of adventure. When his aunt and uncle are killed by the Empire while looking for droids under Luke’s protection, a whole series of events leads to him and the droids joining forces with Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Leia Organa, along with the Rebel Alliance, to free the galaxy from the Empire’s tyrannical grip.
But the point is that this ragtag group sticks together throughout the movie and the rest of the trilogy. They’re the ones helping each other, saving each other, and blowing up ships together. They’re like a family, in other words. Hence the trope title: found families.
I find this used most often in stories that involve either a big quest or a heist, and I always find uses of this trope so interesting because of a) the way the “family” finds each other and b) how different they are. For example, when the shy one, the cocky one, the fierce one, and the peaceful one are all forced to work together, it always turns out to be interesting, wouldn’t you agree? So, if you’re including a found family in your book, don’t bore the reader with having them all from the same school, or the same town, or maybe even from the same world. Don’t give them all anxiety issues or temper problems. Diversity is a big part of writing a book; everyone should be able to find a character that they relate to. (Plus, nobody’s going to care if every single character is going through the same exact thing. Bor-ing).
And that concludes my ramble on found families. I hope those who didn’t even know what a trope was until reading this post are now properly educated in this field of literature – and also that those who didn’t know much about the “found family” trope in the first place now have a guideline if they want to include it in the book they’re writing.
Have a great week, everyone – and happy writing!
(Photo source credit to https://kurious.ku.edu.tr/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/istock-614211848-1170×779.jpg).
*What about you guys? What are your favorite tropes?*