Books on Trope: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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{{trope}}
{{Useful Notes}}
We here at All The Tropes are [[Older Than They Think|not the first]] to collect tropes and try to put them in some semblance of order. Of course, since few people would actually use the word ''trope'' to describe patterns in media, it may be difficult to find the various resources that exist. Therefore we now have ''this'' page. If you happen to run across a resource (a book, website, or other useful thing) that discusses a set of tropes, write up a summary page and stick the link on this index.
We here at All The Tropes are [[Older Than They Think|not the first]] to collect tropes and try to put them in some semblance of order.<ref>Yes, yes, [[TV Tropes]]. But they weren't the first either.</ref> Of course, since few people would actually use the word ''trope'' to describe patterns in media, it may be difficult to find the various resources that exist. Therefore we now have ''this'' page. If you happen to run across a resource (a book, website, or other useful thing) that discusses a set of tropes, write up a summary page and stick the link on this index.


== Personality Profiles ==
== Personality Profiles ==
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** [[Master Character Heroines]]
** [[Master Character Heroines]]
** [[Master Support Characters]]
** [[Master Support Characters]]
* [[Myers-Briggs|Myers-Briggs Temperament Indicator]]
* [[Myers-Briggs|Myers-Briggs Temperament Indicator]]: Psychological system useful for character construction.
** [[Examples of Myers Briggs Personalities in Stories/Just For Fun|Examples of Myers Briggs Personalities in Stories]]
** [[Examples of Myers Briggs Personalities in Stories/Just For Fun|Examples of Myers Briggs Personalities in Stories]]
* [[The Enneagram]]
* [[The Enneagram]]t
* [[Big Five Personality Traits]]
* [[Big Five Personality Traits]]
* [[Five Foundations of Morality]]: A philosophical theory by Johnathan Haidt dealing with cross-cultural commonalities in ethical systems. Discussed notably in the book ''The Righteous Mind.'' Useful for [[Worldbuilding]], and character construction.
* [[Five Foundations of Morality]]
* [[Systems of Survival]] A philosophical and sociological examination of what makes the human ecology of a healthy society. Presented as a party discussion between friends. Useful for [[Worldbuilding]], plot and character construction.
* [[Systems of Survival]]
* [[GURPS]]: Generic Universal Role Playing System. An adaptable system for constructing roleplaying game characters in a variety of settings. Mainly for gaming but any author who has mastered it's methodology can borrow it as a notetaking method.


== Basic Plots ==
== Basic Plots ==


* [[Conflict|The Seven Basic Conflicts]]: as formulated by various [[wikipedia:Conflict (narrative)|critics]] after the fashion of Arthur Quiller-Couch.<br />Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Man, Man vs. Himself, Man vs. God/Fate, Man vs. Society, Man & Woman, etc.
* [[Conflict|The Seven Basic Conflicts]]: as formulated by various [[wikipedia:Conflict (narrative)|critics]] after the fashion of Arthur Quiller-Couch. Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Man, Man vs. Himself, Man vs. God/Fate, Man vs. Society, Man & Woman, etc.
* [[Hero's Journey]]
* [[Hero's Journey]]
* [[The Hero with a Thousand Faces]]
* [[The Hero with a Thousand Faces]]
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* [[Asimov's Three Kinds of Science Fiction]]
* [[Asimov's Three Kinds of Science Fiction]]
* [[The Hollywood Formula]]
* [[The Hollywood Formula]]
* [[Kurt Vonnegut]]'s story graph ("[[The Hollywood Formula|Man in a Hole]]" / "[[Boy Meets Girl]]" / "[[Cinderella]]")<ref>it's the same curve of Luck = f(Time) sine, but you can: start at a medium level, go down, climb out / start at a medium level, go up, [down, up] / start at a low level, go up</ref>.


== Lists of Clichés ==
== Lists of Clichés ==
* [http://www.cs.utah.edu/~duongsaa/more_htm/jk_100animeRules.htm 100 Rules of Anime Physics]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131025232402/http://www.cs.utah.edu/~duongsaa/more_htm/jk_100animeRules.htm 100 Rules of Anime Physics]
* [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=GLOSSARY Ebert's Little Movie Glossary]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130115130118/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=GLOSSARY Ebert's Little Movie Glossary]
* [[Evil Overlord List]]
* [[Evil Overlord List]]
** [[The Universal Genre Savvy Guide/Just for Fun|The Universal Genre Savvy Guide]]
** [[The Universal Genre Savvy Guide]]
*** [[Jack Butlers Original Evil Overlord List]]
*** [[Jack Butlers Original Evil Overlord List]]
* [[Limyaael's Fantasy Rants]]
* [[Limyaael's Fantasy Rants]]
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* [[Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences|Fenimore Coopers Literary Offences]]
* [[Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences|Fenimore Coopers Literary Offences]]
* [[The Grand List of Console Role Playing Game Cliches]]
* [[The Grand List of Console Role Playing Game Cliches]]
* [[The Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Cliches]]
* [[The Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Clichés]]
** [http://www.rocketpunk-observatory.com/spaceguideA-E.htm The Tough Guide to the Known Galaxy]
** [http://www.rocketpunk-observatory.com/spaceguideA-E.htm The Tough Guide to the Known Galaxy]
* ''[[How Not to Write A Novel]]'', by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman. Contains around 200 examples of bad writing, many of them dealing with Bad Writing or tropes used horribly.
* ''[[How Not to Write A Novel]]'', by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman. Contains around 200 examples of bad writing, many of them dealing with Bad Writing or tropes used horribly.
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* ''[[Poetics]]'' by [[Aristotle]]
* ''[[Poetics]]'' by [[Aristotle]]
* [[The RPG Cliches Game]]
* [[The RPG Cliches Game]]
* [[The Tough Guide to Fantasyland]]
* [[Turkey City Lexicon]]
* [[Turkey City Lexicon]]
* [[Silly Novels by Lady Novelists]] by [[George Eliot]]
* [[Silly Novels by Lady Novelists]] by [[George Eliot]]
* [[The Art of Courtly Love]] by Andreas Capellanus
* [http://www.newcollege.utoronto.ca/programs/africanstudies/writeafrica.htm How to Write about Africa] and [http://www.ourmaninabiko.com/2010/10/how-to-write-about-japan.html How to Write about Japan]; actually, how ''not'' to write about these places.
* [http://shannahmcgill.tumblr.com/ The Right Writing]
* [http://shannahmcgill.tumblr.com/ The Right Writing]
* [[The Three-Decker|The Three Decker]] by [[Rudyard Kipling]]
* [[The Three-Decker]] by [[Rudyard Kipling]]

== Resources That Don't Yet Have Their Own Pages ==
== Resources That Don't Yet Have Their Own Pages ==


* [http://pegasus.msmc.la.edu/english/students/casssand/Heroine%20vs%20Hero/HerovsHeroine_Journey.htm Hero's Journey vs Heroine's Journey]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110907074957/http://pegasus.msmc.la.edu/english/students/casssand/Heroine%20vs%20Hero/HerovsHeroine_Journey.htm Hero's Journey vs Heroine's Journey]
* [[Writing Excuses]]
* [[Writing Excuses]]
* [[History of US Naval Operations in World War II]]: [[Serious Business|The Bible]] of World War II naval history. If you want a war story that has truly [[Shown Their Work|shown it's work]] read this.

* ''[[wikipedia:The Four Loves|The Four Loves]]''—Never enter a [[Shipping]] debate without it.
* ''[[wikipedia:The Four Loves|The Four Loves]]''—Never enter a [[Shipping]] debate without it.
* ''[[wikipedia:The Discarded Image|The Discarded Image]]''—A series of lectures by [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]] about the Medieval worldview and it's effect on literature. Very useful. Contains explanations on the Medieval take on such tropes as [[Earth Is the Center of the Universe]], [[All Myths Are True]], [[But I Read a Book About It]], and of course [[The Fair Folk]].
* ''[[wikipedia:The Discarded Image|The Discarded Image]]''—A series of lectures by [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]] about the Medieval worldview and it's effect on literature. Very useful. Contains explanations on the Medieval take on such tropes as [[Earth Is the Center of the Universe]], [[All Myths Are True]], [[But I Read a Book About It]], and of course [[The Fair Folk]].
* [http://www.dramatica.com/ Dramatica]—This is a rather complicated literary theory that divides story telling into 4 story tellers, 64 "Quads" of 4 properties that examine 64 questions that must each be explored and resolved and...well...There's a 360 page PDF to read and you can buy a rather expensive program to sort it all out. Like most theories, it works pretty well often enough to help most of the time, but there are exceptions. The [http://www.dramatica.com/downloads/dramaticomic.pdf comic book version] is pretty easy to follow.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171218151503/http://www.dramatica.com/ Dramatica]—This is a rather complicated literary theory that divides story telling into 4 story tellers, 64 "Quads" of 4 properties that examine 64 questions that must each be explored and resolved and...well...There's a 360 page PDF to read and you can buy a rather expensive program to sort it all out. Like most theories, it works pretty well often enough to help most of the time, but there are exceptions. The [https://web.archive.org/web/20120511142640/http://www.dramatica.com/downloads/dramaticomic.pdf comic book version] is pretty easy to follow.
** Here's a page for us to give a summary: [[Dramatica]].
** Here's a page for us to give a summary: [[Dramatica]].
* [[wikipedia:Aarne-Thompson classification system|Aarne-Thompson Classification System]] and [http://www.folklore.bc.ca/Motifindex.htm/ Stith Thompson Folk Motif-Index] describe a massive set of descriptors for folktales. For example, in "An Encyclopedia of Fairies" by Katharine Briggs she gives a breakdown of Cinderella. It is Type 510 (an example of Supernatural Helpers) and contians Motifes S31: Cruel stepmother; L55: Stepdaughter heroine; F311.1: Fairy godmother; D1050.1: Clothes produced by magic; F861.4.3: Carriage from pumpkin; N711.6: Prince sees heroine at ball and is enamoured; C761.3: Taboo: staying too long at ball. Must leave before certain hour; and H36.1: Slipper test. Given that the motif index is apparently six large volumes the detail seems overwhelming!
* [[wikipedia:Aarne-Thompson classification system|Aarne-Thompson Classification System]] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20140217155152/http://www.folklore.bc.ca/Motifindex.htm Stith Thompson Folk Motif-Index] describe a massive set of descriptors for folktales. For example, in "An Encyclopedia of Fairies" by Katharine Briggs she gives a breakdown of Cinderella. It is Type 510 (an example of Supernatural Helpers) and contians Motifes S31: Cruel stepmother; L55: Stepdaughter heroine; F311.1: Fairy godmother; D1050.1: Clothes produced by magic; F861.4.3: Carriage from pumpkin; N711.6: Prince sees heroine at ball and is enamoured; C761.3: Taboo: staying too long at ball. Must leave before certain hour; and H36.1: Slipper test. Given that the motif index is apparently six large volumes the detail seems overwhelming!
* [[Greenwood Press|Daily Life Through History Series]] : A vast hoard of [[Useful Notes]]. Use these for research and you will never again write [[Hollywood History]] by accident.
* [[Greenwood Press|Daily Life Through History Series]] : A vast hoard of [[Useful Notes]]. Use these for research and you will never again write [[Hollywood History]] by accident.
* ''[http://www.openculture.com/2015/04/kurt-vonneguts-8-tips-on-how-to-write-a-good-short-story.html 8 Tips on How to Write a Good Short Story]'' and ''The Shape of A Story'', from [[Kurt Vonnegut]].
* ''[http://www.openculture.com/2015/04/kurt-vonneguts-8-tips-on-how-to-write-a-good-short-story.html 8 Tips on How to Write a Good Short Story]'' and ''The Shape of A Story'', from [[Kurt Vonnegut]].
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{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Just for Pun]]
[[Category:Just for Pun]]
[[Category:Works]]
[[Category:Literature]]
[[Category:Index Index]]
[[Category:Index]]
[[Category:Tropes]]
[[Category:Tropes]]
[[Category:Books on Trope]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Mechanics of Writing]]
[[Category:Mechanics of Writing]]

Latest revision as of 03:02, 4 March 2022


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    /wiki/Books on Tropework

    We here at All The Tropes are not the first to collect tropes and try to put them in some semblance of order.[1] Of course, since few people would actually use the word trope to describe patterns in media, it may be difficult to find the various resources that exist. Therefore we now have this page. If you happen to run across a resource (a book, website, or other useful thing) that discusses a set of tropes, write up a summary page and stick the link on this index.

    Personality Profiles

    The most common trope collections are personality profiles. Many people have devised systems of sorting characters into a handful of pigeonholes (the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Enneagram, etc.). Of course, they tend to think this works well for sorting people, whereas we're going to take the more sensible view that it works well for sorting fictional characters who aren't nearly as complex as your average real human. They're useful systems for the writer as well as for the reader, so eventually we'll get them up here.

    Basic Plots

    People have also tried to condense the wide and varied world of plots into a small and succinct list of possible plots. The most basic system says that all plots are about one of two things, love and death, but the list can go up to fifty or even more. Joseph Campbell tried to pin it all down to a single heroic version in Hero's Journey, and while that doesn't cover every story, it works with a lot of them (and George Lucas decided to base Star Wars all around Campbell's work). It's when people start claiming that Schlindler's List has the same plot as Alice in Wonderland that we start to wonder if their systems make any sense, but hey, maybe they had a flash of inspiration. At any rate, studying plot archetypes can help writers to straighten out the odd kinks that are throwing them for a loop, and maybe to introduce elements that strengthen the overall story and underscore its thematic meaning. As for the reader... well, it's always fun to realize, halfway into the new blockbuster, that you're really watching a postmodern sci-fi version of Beauty and The Beast.

    Lists of Clichés

    Dead Horse Tropes can be surprisingly stubborn beasts, refusing to leave the media well after they've been discredited, disbarred, and run out of the country for being So Last Century. The more that writers recognize the possible clichés that exist, the more they're able to avert, subvert, and even invert the critters, allowing for the possibility that their viewers are not morons and just might enjoy watching something written with a little connection to reality. Then again, it's just fun to review all the oddities that make up our collected media history (laser printers that still sound like a Dot Matrix?) and then play drinking games over recognizing when they show up in our favorite sitcoms.

    Personality Profiles

    Basic Plots

    Lists of Clichés

    Resources That Don't Yet Have Their Own Pages

    1. ↑ Yes, yes, TV Tropes. But they weren't the first either.
    2. ↑ it's the same curve of Luck = f(Time) sine, but you can: start at a medium level, go down, climb out / start at a medium level, go up, [down, up] / start at a low level, go up
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