Literary Tropes vs. Clichés: What’s the Difference?

Far too often I see the word ‘trope’ and ‘cliché’ being used interchangeably, and while others may have convinced themselves that they’re the same, I’m here to tell you the exact opposite. In fact, you don’t even need a lengthy blog post to tell you that; here are Cambridge dictionary definitions for both:

cliché

noun [ C or U ]

a saying or remark that is very often made and is therefore not original and not interesting:

trope

noun [ C ]

something such as an idea, phrase, or image that is often used in a particular artist’s work, in a particular type of art, etc.:

If this is all you take away from this post, that’s great! But I want to continue elaborating on how both cliché and tropes function in the literary world and how they play a role in your writing. After all, when you know the rules well, you can bend them (for the good).

Do we want to read clichés? The answer is almost always ‘No’.

Do we want tropes present in our writing? Yes!

The best way I like to determine if your idea is a cliché or a trope is to look at it through the plot. A cliché is a quote or saying more often than it is a plotline like, “what doesn’t break you makes you stronger” or “ time heals all wounds” but what makes an action or event a cliché? Essentially, any occurrence that is too predictable or beaten to the ground within the genre is a cliché. Even the “addressing the cliché as a cliché” workaround has turned into, well, a cliché. Avoid it altogether if possible, and if you’re unsure then just ask around in any public forum or discussion board for feedback.

Tropes, on the other hand, are a little complicated. I like to refer to tropes as an underlying theme to a certain plot or subplot in the story. Examples of literary tropes that cross my mind at the moment are:

— Lovers to haters

— Save the world

— Forbidden love

— Self-sacrifice for a larger good

And the list goes on. But, you may be asking, “aren’t these clichés?”. They are not, even though you’ve heard and read stories with these tropes that are all too familiar. What makes a trope different from a cliché is that it can be crafted into an innovative and creative thought. A writer can outdo the “forbidden love” trope in a way that any writer before hasn’t.

That’s the angle you need to take with tropes — you need to see what you can add to it to make it yours and refreshing to read. Because if a trope is executed the same way over and over again, it’s going to run the risk of becoming a cliché.

So how can you reinvent a trope in your own creative work to stop it from falling down the path of becoming yet another cliché? Here are a few approaches to try out:

The “anti” perspective — writing from the antagonist’s, or another alternative, perspective for a particular trope.

Exploring new settings— want to write a “save the world” novel? Change the world: write about somewhere other than Earth.

Try experimental literature — push the boundaries of “regular” writing and see where it takes you.

Hope you found this insightful, and don’t forget to make tropes not clichés.