Lesson #0: Introduction

We begin.

My inspiration for this series of courses is the wiki tvtropes.org and my blog post “A Point for Originality.” I cannot cover all the tropes, and explain how you can avoid them in an attempt to gain your point for originality, so I’ve narrowed it down to a few categories.

Personally, I think having original characters and/or setting is more important than an original plot. However, no matter how hard you try, you will have a list of tropes that your story will fit into. Some of them, as I mentioned in my blog, are unavoidable, and extremely expected. Human behavior essentially compromises a majority of the characterization tropes. The goal of these lessons is not to make characters that don’t act normally: it is to make it so your characters, settings, etc. have original characteristics that stand out to people.

So, your first assignment is, if you have plenty of time, look at the tropes. Look at your favorite movies, books, and TV shows and look at what tropes they have.

If you have a limited amount of time, keep a story in mind. Perhaps it’s one you’re reading, or maybe even one you’re writing. Is there anything in the story that stands out to you as cliché? If there is, how would you change it? Would it affect the story dramatically?

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