mbarker: (Fireworks Delight)
[personal profile] mbarker
  Original Posting Feb. 14, 2018

There was a thread that came and went recently between some writers and artists on twitter. Frankly, I thought it was a fascinating question, and some of the answers were interesting, but... Twitter just seems like it doesn't quite really bring out the answers. Anyway, I thought I'd bring the question up here, and see where we go with it.

The question was simple. Which trope do you really enjoy, no matter how often it gets used? See, we all know that tropes, or patterns of plot and thought, all too often (and sometimes rather quickly) become overused, cliche, oh, no, here it comes again! But, on the other hand, most of us do find some tropes seem to resist the trend, and can be re-used time and again, without real problems.

I will admit, I joined the thread, with a simple response. I chose to suggest that the "stand-up-and-cheer" moment (with thanks to Howard Tayler for the name) seems to me to be a venerable trope that I enjoy again and again. It's that moment when the protagonist, the hero, takes the chance and succeeds, and we want to stand up and cheer! That one always makes me smile!

So, there's the question. Which trope do you enjoy seeing played, again and again? And since we don't have the limitations of twitter, let me also ask you to comment on just why that trope seems to withstand the drag to become a cliche?
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original Posting 16 October 2011

Oh! Almost forgot. In case you're interested, here are some resources for horror stories...

Horror Tropes! Yes, right over here, people have collected some of the cliches and wonders of horror, just to inspire you:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HorrorTropes

Urban myths and legends? Yes, a collection of the ways that people scare each other...

http://www.snopes.com/

There's a pile of other websites, too. Just google "urban myths" or "urban legends" and let your mouse do the clicking.

'saright? Take one horror trope, one urban myth, mix well (shake, don't stir!) and... shiver...

Write!
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting Nov. 4, 2010

Ha! Here's a fun little teaser, if you're having trouble figuring out what to write about for nanowrimo (hey, it could happen, right?).

First, go over to http://tvtropes.org/ -- but DO NOT START BROWSING, because it's way too easy to spend hours here without any words. Instead, click on random (top right hand button). That will give you some kind of weird trope from the troves, with which you should...

Second, consider how this might apply to your characters, scenes, etc. Go ahead and sketch up at least one scene using this trope. Or if you happen to get a series or something, scramble through it and pick out something to use for your story. And write, write, write...

Go!
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting for May 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:
"Genre crossing can spur a fresh way of looking at material. It can widen creative horizons, present new challenges, and expand your publishing opportunities." Lauren Kessler
Aha! Instead of just trying to play with the tropes of a genre, mix-and-match, crisscross your plots, and let the genres beware! I mean, you take one cliffhanger from a melodrama and mix well with a dose of romance and a dash of action, and what have you got? Cake!

Don't forget, the tropes the thing over at http://tvtropes.org/ where you can find more tropes than you want to shake a pencil at.

Write!
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting 10 December 2008

Just be forewarned. This site can chew up much time. Especially when you're on deadline for something in the boring non-fiction world . . .

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tropes

(who, me? No, I'm writing the chapter for the book. Really. Focused! Yep, that's me. Shiny! :-)

[Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to go to http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RomanceNovelPlots and pick a plot, any plot -- then twist and turn it into something wonderful! and write, write, write!]
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting 22 August 2008

and found some links and links and links :-)

Okay, this is just some scattered links that I want to keep track of. Do a search for science fiction, fantasy, etc. and plot, cliche, whatnot, and you might stumble over:

Assorted generators:
http://nine.frenchboys.net/index.php
http://www.warpcoresf.co.uk/fantasyplot.php
Lists of Plots
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/alex/Handbooks/WWWPlots/genre.html
The Big List of RPG Plots http://www.io.com/~sjohn/plots.htm
Bad Ideas and The Plot That Wouldn't Die and Well-Worn Ideas
http://www.sfwa.org/writing/turkeycity.html
http://www.seetuscany.com/writd/notdie.htm
http://www.strangehorizons.com/guidelines/fiction-common-horror.shtml
http://www.strangehorizons.com/guidelines/fiction-common.shtml
SF Cliches http://www.cthreepo.com/cliche/
Fantasy Cliches http://www.amethyst-angel.com/cliche.html
Horror http://www.darkhart.com/blog/?p=1
Romance Cliches http://www.writing-world.com/romance/cliches.shtml

The Well Tempered Plot Device http://news.ansible.co.uk/plotdev.html
Evil Overlord List http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html

Lots of fun to look over. So what links have you seen recently that were useful to your writing voyage?

Huh? Oh, I missed TV Tropes? Here -- http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tropes
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
original posting: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 14:46:24 EDT

[for those who haven't had the pleasure before--first, a few words from me. then the answers you might have thought you would find here. and, if we're lucky, something to end it all...with a BANG!]

the smoke hovers. your eyes sting.

the ancient figure that ushered you into this strange cavern of shadows seems to have vanished while you were blinking.

and...

in the east, sunrise blares up from the darkened hulks of sleeping mammoths and other detritus of the city. streaks slide in and up, widen, and slowly feed blood into the dark sky, beating it into blue life for another day.

in the west, a hungry thunderstorm slavers and scratches across the quivering backs of foothills. from time to time, it roars out a challenge to the world, afraid of nothing and showing it. do not tease it, for it is cornered and sorely fearful, and its bite is worse than its bark.

in the north, the frozen wastes quietly snore their way into crystalline dreams of glory. They glint, remembering the ancient days when ice gripped the wide spaces to the south in a clean white glove of tender glacial calm. They crackle in the cold air, as ears ache and noses drip, with sympathy for the poor enslaved relatives forced into cubes by human technology. They snort, nightmares recurring, as they think of being dunked in soda or alcohol at the hands of a human. Imagine! melting, melting, turning into mere water, just for human tastes.

in the south, outlaws cuss, horses rear, and other quaint relics of a mythical past fan their six-guns and stand tall, no matter how short they may be...

all this, while in the mystical write direction, words tumble and shimmer, coating ideas with fractal colors and incoherence, cracked! and limited by punctuation, mere passing letters on the river of ink...

in the center, spinning slowly inside a tangled web of grammar, lies...

[oh, heck, let me put down my tropes and yack at you.

this is writers. glad you could drop by. feel free to take part in the continuing mailstorm, and don't feel too surprised if things aren't exactly what you expected. just keep on writing, keep on reading, and you may be surprised to find that while it isn't what you thought you wanted, it may be exactly what you needed...:-]

and with a flashing clash of ? and !, he brought the wild sentence to a .

and there was a submission:

the beginning.
by a. writer

(next, your words, please?...yes, fill in the blank and send it soon!)

tink
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
[Please feel free to print this FAQ and keep a copy for when you have questions! In fact, the author would be pleased if you did that.]

The meat in this sandwich - v. 17, July 4, 1995

[long out out of warranty, and so removed]
-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-
the end with a bang?

well, ignoring the bad jokes which the phrase may suggest, let me recommend:

Write until it hurts.
Then write about the hurting.
Submit, and submit again.
And bang!

they sold happily ever after...

that's it!
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
and found some links and links and links :-)

Okay, this is just some scattered links that I want to keep track of. Do a search for science fiction, fantasy, etc. and plot, cliche, whatnot, and you might stumble over:

Assorted generators:
http://nine.frenchboys.net/index.php
http://www.warpcoresf.co.uk/fantasyplot.php

Lists of Plots
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/alex/Handbooks/WWWPlots/genre.html
The Big List of RPG Plots http://www.io.com/~sjohn/plots.htm

Bad Ideas and The Plot That Wouldn't Die and Well-Worn Ideas
http://www.sfwa.org/writing/turkeycity.html
http://www.seetuscany.com/writd/notdie.htm
http://www.strangehorizons.com/guidelines/fiction-common-horror.shtml
http://www.strangehorizons.com/guidelines/fiction-common.shtml

SF Cliches http://www.cthreepo.com/cliche/
Fantasy Cliches http://www.amethyst-angel.com/cliche.html
Horror http://www.darkhart.com/blog/?p=1
Romance Cliches http://www.writing-world.com/romance/cliches.shtml

The Well Tempered Plot Device
http://news.ansible.co.uk/plotdev.html

Evil Overlord List
http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html


Lots of fun to look over.
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 20:31:00 -0400

Recently, I saw a plaque that consisted of four relatively short chunks of writing (I hesitate to call them poetic, although others might).

The first consisted of several statements about "Life as a rainbow."  The second talked about "life as an unsung song."  Then it ended with two simple lines:
"the beauty of a rainbow may be contemplated in solitude.
The mystery of a song begs to be shared."
I think of this as basically two extended similes (Life is like a cracker, crispy on the outside, dry on the inside, and crunchy when broken...) and then a pair of metaphorical implications (a cracker tastes better with salt [and the silent echoing thought about whether a life also needs a little salt])

Hokay?

So, your job:

1.  Pick two little bits of reality (rainbow, song, tree, pebble, river, hurricane, etc.)
2.  Pick a general thing (life, love, peace of mind, justice, etc.)
3.  Stretch those similes!  Make lists of characteristics of the reality chunks.  You might make a list of the characteristics of the abstraction, too.  Mix and match, compare and contrast, and pick out the ones that really feel powerful.
4.  Arrange into two extended similes and a pair of observations.
5.  Polish, tighten, and make the words twinkle.

Write!
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original Posting: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 02:32:29 -0500

here we go...
a good companion on
stormy nights when twists of leaves may become serpents
(borrowing from John Bailey)

Take that pair of lines, and let them verberate (I'd say reverberate, but you have to verberate before you can reverb, right?).  Let them bounce around.  Let your tongue taste them, your teeth tangle in those vowels and consonants.  Grumble them through your very own vocal chords, and vibrate.

And let your mind enjoy the echoes of the images, the twists of leaves, the serpents, the stormy nights, and that good companion.

Who is that good companion?  What else lurks in stormy nights?

Then stretch it out.  Add a paragrph (if you be the fictional type), or perhaps some lines (if ye be poetically inclined).  Mix and match, and see where the words take you.

Write?
a good companion on
stormy nights when twists of leaves may become serpents
Write!
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 20:49:00 -0400

Here we go...

Writing is like sewing empty garments.

Go ahead, explore that relationship, expand that metaphor, ssssssssssssstretch those words!
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting: Wed, 05 Sep 2001 20:36:00 -0400

A bad plot is like having an umbrella jammed down your throat, and opened there, and pulled out open, so that the broken ribs lacerate your lungs, and being beaten over the head with the handle.

(with recognition for Don Marquis, for this fine simile for unpleasantness)

A bad plot... I'm sure you've read a book (or even two!) that made you want to throw it across the room, or at least made you wonder what kind of @#$@W% let that be published?

So what do you compare a bad plot to?

Or even, what are the hallmarks of a bad plot?
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
original posting: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 13:47:58 -0500

Okay, let's try this...

"Lit up like a whorehouse on Saturday night."  Loren D. Estleman, quoted in Falser than a Weeping Crocodile and other similes by Elyse Sommer and Mike Sommer.

There's a fine phrase, talking about something being lit up.  But since we're stretching our writing muscles, let's consider two things.

First, what might you be writing about that would be lit up?  Can you think of a scene that would need some description around how well lit up it is?

Second, of course, let's consider a few variations on that simile.  What would you consider using as a simile to illustrate being lit up?  What does it do if you make it "lit up like a Parisian whorehouse on Saturday night?" Or what about "as dark as a whorehouse on Monday night?"  (er...when's the night off?)

Times Square at the stroke of midnight, Jan. 1?

like a four year old's face when Daddy comes home?

Go ahead, crank out a few similes about being well lit!  And then consider the effect they have on a scene.

If you like, go ahead and write the scene.

Or even the whole tale, if you have the time and the idea.
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original Posting: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 21:35:00 -0500

Do Clouds Laugh?

There you go.  Poem, essay, story, do with it what you will.  Use it as a title, a first line, a thematic rebound throughout your tale, or even as just a place to start, that never even appears in your work.

But write, write, write while the muse is calling!

Do Clouds Laugh?

Pick a cloud, any cloud.  Enjoy the laugh (belly, chuckle, or whatever laughter you propose).  And answer the question, do clouds laugh?
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
original posting: Mon, 14 May 2001 05:28:32 -0400

Here we go...almost poetics?

The Fruits

They sit -- sour, bruised, tired
by long exposure

waiting

for the one who says, "You are
accepted,
wonderful,
lovely
even as you are."

And when that one walks among the lonely

Will they hear?  Look?  Accept?
or
sit and glare, afraid
to believe.

And wait for someone who will pay
$1.49 a pound

Go ahead, read it as you will, and then write your own story about it.  What
are these fruits?  And who is that one who talks to them?

Poetry, prosery, whatever you likery, just write, okay?
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 21:00:00 -0400

A good simile is tinder for the mind, and a fine metaphor is like aloe for the heart.

Snicker.  With a bit of cross-dressing for the words, let's consider those fine comparisons.

The bonfire of the id, the lotion of the soul?

Go ahead and sketch some of those thoughts out on the blank page for us, eh?
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original Posting: Wed, 12 Dec 2001 05:01:46 -0500

For those who would like to stretch your writing...

take one (or more) of the following heteronyms (bow, row, sow, bass, buffet, deserts, dove, entrance, lead, moped, unionized, wind, and wound).

Mix well, and write a poem, a story, an essay, a what-have-you, that uses (and potentially amuses) the twain.

enjoy...

Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 01:50:54 -0500
From: Wordsmith <wsmith@wordsmith.org>
To: linguaphile@wordsmith.org
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--heteronym

heteronym (HET-uhr-uh-nim) noun

   A word that has the same spelling as another word but with a different
   pronunciation and meaning.

   In the following poem, each end-word is heteronymic:

   Listen, readers, toward me bow.
   Be friendly; do not draw the bow.
   Please don't try to start a row.
   Sit peacefully, all in a row.
   Don't act like a big, fat sow.
   Do not the seeds of discord sow.

   In a pure heteronymic pair, the two words must be etymologically
   unrelated, as in bass, buffet, deserts, dove, entrance, lead, moped,
   unionized, wind, and wound.

This week's theme: Naming the nyms, by Richard Lederer.

............................................................................
A full cup must be carried steadily. -English proverb

Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/heteronym.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/heteronym.ram


[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
original posting: Thu, 06 Sep 2001 20:43:00 -0400

Okay, here's the simile -- what's the comparison?

xxxx is like an ocean.  The surface waves and sprays, while the deeps run silent and strong.

What do you think is like that?  What would you compare to an ocean, with that frothy top, and the deep silence?

(a fish?  how did that get in there?  oh, it's part of the package?)

write!

"Good morning, daddy!
Ain't you heard
The boogie-woogie rumble
Of a dream deferred?"  Langston Hughes

a dream deferred... and out of its time... tink

[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original Posting: Fri, 9 Feb 1996 22:36:11 EST

[sorry about the delay--this week has been a bit hectic, and today was...less than benign? anyway, I was relaxing at home, letting the residual tremors work themselves out, and I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to post an exercise! mea delinquent, but here we go]

might be a poetic exercise, might simply be a mind stretcher, but I think some of you will like it...

1. Take a concept or idea that you want to express. Write it down in a few short words (e.g. I'm lonely)

2. Take some word from the mineral arena. For example, pick a number from one to six and:
a) opal b) marble c) iron d) pewter e) lava f) flint
Write this word down in column one under the concept or idea.

3. Take one word from the animal world...one to six?
a) kangaroo! b) bat c) orangutan d) tiger e) mule f) pig
Write this word down in column two under the concept or idea.

4. Take one word from the veggies...one to six?
a) cypress b) hemlock c) fuchsia d) bluegrass e) oregano f) ivy
Write this word down in column three under the concept or idea.

5. If you aren't sure about them, look them up...

6. Now, for each column, mineral, animal, veggie, think about some characteristics of that specific thing. Make a list of at least ten different points about the piece of marble you are thinking of, the mule hiding under your porch, and the ivy cracking the shingles off your roof... I think this works best when you do ten in column a, then ten in column b, then ten in column c, but do it your way.

7. Now, let your mind wander down the lists. If the sharp edge of your piece of flint reminds you of the darkness under the looming cypress trees--make a note of that. You've got 34 or so words to play with at this point, let your intuition lead you into a web of relationships, similarities and differences, alliances and juxtapositions...mirroring and distorting the concept or idea you wanted to think about.

8. Put that away. Grab a piece of clean paper. Tap your fingers, beat your feet, get a rhythm going--and let words bubble up out of that cauldron of thought you've just immersed yourself in. Write them down, make them fit the beat, fight the beat, bite the feet--and stick to those cracks in the pewter matching those veins in the leaves of oregano that bite in the back of your nose when you sniff the spaghetti--ye olde concrete experience. If you slow down, glance at the lists and notes you made, fit pieces of that in, and keep going. When it slows down and stops, that's okay--that's when you go back, look at what you've done, and polish.

9. Polish, polish, clear away the detritus that hides the shining scalpel of the metaphorical linkages you have created, make it cut...

[that's it!

oh, the start of a story folken are clamoring? they should get out of those unpleasantly cold and sticky things right now and slip into something more comfortable...
"Kill him now," the head cheerleader said, and ran onto the field.
tick-tock, marjory-daw, the cheerleading squad has its own little secrets...

For those who wonder, the idea is to start with that line, and write a little, write a little, write a lot onward, into the jaws of a climax, wrote the fingered keyboards...]

later
[identity profile] mbarker.livejournal.com
Original posting: Fri, 5 Dec 1997 23:59:37 EST

[my elusive tropes and schemes...]

A list of tropes:
  1. metaphor
  2. simile
  3. personification
  4. irony
  5. hyperbole
  6. understatement
  7. metonymy
  8. synecdoche
A list of schemes:
  1. allegory,
  2. parallelism
  3. antithesis
  4. congeries
  5. apostrophe
  6. enthymeme
  7. interrogatio
  8. gradatio
Okay. The first part of the exercise is to make sure you know what each of these means! You may consult your dictionaries, your rhetorical grammars, or whatever sources you like (even knocking out the old brain cells is permitted!).

The second part of the exercise is work. Next time you are trying to write about something, take one of these lists (the tropes or the schemes) and walk down through all eight flavorings, trying them out. Talking about love? Think about a gooey metaphor, a fine simile, a ribald personification, a phrase with irony, some hyperbole, perhaps an understatement, a dash of metonymy, or even the odd synecdoche!

Or, if you're all troped out, try dressing it up in a scheme! Think of the fine allegories of love lurking in your swamp, or maybe the parallelism of two bodies? don't you hate that antithesis, though? or you could do a congeries line! (not to mention the apostrophe most insincere) what about enthymememe (sorry, the opera singer got stuck)? do you think you might employ interrogatio? or if not, how about gradatio?

[psst? no idea what most of those flaky words mean? try making it multiple choice...here's most--but not all!--of the meanings... match them up, then figure out which ones I left out, and add those meanings:

a. overstatement or exaggeration

b. substituting one word for another which it suggests or to which it is in some way related

c. combining opposites into one statement--"To be or not to be, that is the question"

d. a turning from one's immediate audience to address another, who may be present only in the imagination

e. a progressive advance from one statement to another until a climax is achieved

f. an accumulation of statements or phrases that say essentially the same thing

g. a discrepancy between a speaker's literal statement and his attitude or intent

h. a comparison announced by "like" or "as"

i. constructing sentences or phrases that resemble one another syntactically

j. attributing human qualities to a nonhuman being or object

k. a loosely syllogistic form of reasoning in which the speaker assumes that any missing premises will be supplied by the audience

l. substituting part for whole,

m. the "rhetorical" question, which is posed for argumentative effect and requires no answer

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