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Might as well go to the authority for recycled story bits: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tropes There is more to storytelling than just originality.


Besides TV tropes, the page made me think of the quite entertaining "How Not to Write a Novel"[1][2], which not only details tropes to avoid, but also quite humorously illustrates them with short stories.

If you're already a TV Tropes addict, I can strongly recommend the book.

[1] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/HowNotToWr...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Write-Novel-Them-Misstep-Misstep/dp/0...


For those who haven't been to TV Tropes, be warned, you will be there for a long time. It's a wiki-walk of nearly infinite depth.

Now, if anyone needs me for the next 3 weeks, you'll know where to find me. :)


Exactly. Originality is overrated.

Tropes exist. What matters is what you build with them.


> This is not a canonical list of bad stories or story cliches. This is a list of types of stories that we at SH have seen too often; it's not intended to be a complete list of all types of bad stories, nor are all the items on the list necessarily bad.




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