FIVE ‘TERRIBLE’ YA TROPES

AS preparation for writing yet another YA book of my own, I’ve been power-reading a lot of YA novels recently, and from that, three ideas have sprung to life. (1) YA writers love tropes. (2) YA writers super-duper love tropes. (3) Chupacabras are real.

No. 3 is self-evident, and there’s simply nothing to be done about it. Nos. 1 and 2, though? Writers can and should do something about it. Why? Because readers of YA books – like me! and like you! – deserve storylines that aren’t easily predictable from the earliest pages.

Now, if you’re a huge trope fan, you might be yelling how tropes are tropes for very solid reasons, and you’re right. They’re not inherently awful – and let’s face it, tropes have existed in the genre for this long for a reason. But if you mindlessly plug them into a story without fully considering other options – or you don’t explore ways to