4 Story Tropes To Get Cozy With

Tropes.

Call them what you want- clichés, gimmicks, but ultimately their formulas to create an entertaining piece of reading. A lot of these tropes I actually found through fanfiction, and was thus able to pinpoint them better in novels. So, fueled by the promise of returning reading fervor, I wanted to help foster that burgeoning flame of fantasy consumption with a reminder of some of the best things I've ever read!

1. Found Family

Also known as Family of Choice trope, I just . . . wow, I could take up three pages to explain my love for this one but I have to keep it brief. I think my first experience with this trope in fiction was with "James and the Giant Peach." I was a little kid, in elementary school the first time I read the Roald Dahl classic. This sweet, beleaguered little boy who found a home inside of a gigantic peach, filled with big critters that were rather fond of him. Reading their adventures was my primary focus, but thinking back on it now it really was the first time I read about a family being made up of not a single blood relation . . . just, love. It's an important lesson to teach people, I think, that you can make a family and it would be just as strong as any other family because you all choose to be there for each other regardless of all else. Since then there's been so many other instances of found family- "Matilda" again by Roald Dhal, "The Black Stallion" by Walter Farley- I learned about the official term thanks to fanfiction! I'm a sucker for some good found family in the latest incarnation of Spiderman's fics, and Steve Harrington's babysitting prowess really captures the meaning of the trope in Stranger Things fandom.

2. Coffee Shop

I'm just a soft girl, looking at a story based around a coffee shop, asking it to comfort me. I found it in fanfictions (not to say there aren't wonderful books with a setting or story based around a coffee shop, I just haven't found one that really calls me yet); I adore a good domestic Alternative Universe (AU) and coffee shops are among the best, the oldest, and the truest of the soft and domestic reads I love. It was originally known as Barista-AU, and is speculated to have begun in 2001 in a popslash story. I was way, way too young to be there for that part of fandom history- what with being in elementary school and all- but years later when I found my own sweet little slice of this trope, I nearly clung to it. A warm, cozy setting where characters with heavy burdens can lay them down on the delicate iron chair next to them, and sip at some sweet beverage offered by a gentle hand along with an accompanying ear. There is, actually, this fantastic RWBY fanfiction called "Service With A Smile" that is the PINNACLE of this trope for me.

3. Road Trip

Broke more often than not, a lot of my travelling is done with the turning of pages rather than lanes. Which is fine, honestly, I'm a homebody really- but, reading about characters braving uncertainty and their own insecurities to find themselves along the open road is beautiful to me. Whether they have a specific goal- be it getting to meet someone, or going to see a special place- or they're just feeling lost in their humdrum life and seeking an escape, a lot of road trip stories just have this enrapturing quality to them. Sometimes it's just the main character alone, finding little pieces of themselves in a special interaction with people they meet at certain stops. Other times it's a the main character with some dynamic tag-alongs who not only make the journey more fun, but more fulfilling in a myriad of ways. Some of my favorite books that work with this trope are: "Whistling Past The Graveyard" by Susan Crandall, and "The Secret Life of Prince Charming" by Deb Caletti.

4. The Quest

I always think of it as "road trip trope but with . . . dramatic tension." An evergreen topic for a story, a quest is typically a main character and various supporting characters travelling through nations, or the entire world, with a goal in mind: to find treasure, find a home, vanquish a foe, etc. A good quest is usually set in some fantastical land, in some bygone era, so that the author can put in as much magical and fantastical lore as they deem appropriate. I usually like when the trope takes a modern approach and just has the quest happen in real life, and even just in one major city- the realism helps me feel like one day I could make a quest out of something as simple as finding, like . . . the perfect boba tea. Not to say fantasy quests aren't amazing though! Of course the are, they're the backbone of so much of our media culture- filled with action, adventure, maybe a splash of romance to appease the masses. I've got a long list of favorites for this trope: "Lion Boy" by Zizou Corder, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carrol, "The Inheritance Cycle" series by Christopher Paolini, "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline, and "The Last Unicorn" by Peter S. Beagle.

I hope that you either found a lot to agree with in this article, or you found some new points to consider when you're at the bookstore/library. I'm always open to a new genre or style of writing that could add something interesting to my life, and I'd love to know some of your favorite tropes!