Harlequin Historical author Michelle Styles gives a brief explanation of what a trope is and why they are important, plus a giveway of her latest
Earlier this month,
the copyright violation case against Kate Walker was dismissed with
prejudice. An unpublished author had accused Kate Walker of stealing her ideas and had taken the case to court. If the unpublished author had know more about
tropes, she would have saved everyone a lot of time and grief as the judge unequivocally declared Kate Walker innocent.
What is a trope?
A trope is the name for a metaphorical use of words. It describes
various common plots, characters and themes. Sometimes people confuse trope
with troupe (a company of performers) but the correct word is trope. These
plots, themes and characters have been used since time immemorial and no one
has the right to own them. Copyright covers the expression of characters, plots
and themes but not the ideas themselves. In short copyright covers that which is unique
about an author – her voice.
It is perhaps easiest to think of a trope as detailed architect drawings of a house. You might even have the representation of
various items of furniture. But the drawing is very different to actually being
in a furnished house, particularly one which has been lived in for awhile. The story which the author creates and has copyright protection for is the finished and lived
in house. It is unique because the author’s voice runs through it. Just like
the inhabitant of the house’s taste runs through the house and it could belong
to no one else. The tropes cannot be copyright protected.
It is important to realise that there is nothing new under
the sun in terms of plot. As Robin Lane Fox makes clear in his book Travelling
Heroes, Homer stood on the shoulders of story tellers who had come before him
and uses bits from other stories. Travelling Heroes is a fascinating read if
you are interested in such things. But if Homer couldn’t create an original
plot thousands of years ago, we should stop worrying about it as well and should concentrate on the things which do make stories unique.Other authors such as Joseph Campbell (Hero of a Thousand
Faces) and Maureen Murdock ( The Heroine’s Journey) make the point that there are only a few
plots which resonate through out time
And the same archetypal characters occur time and again.
There are many tropes in romance. Little Red Riding meets
the Big Bad Wolf is currently popular. 50 Shades of Grey uses this trope. In the
case of 50 Shades, the heroine relies on her magic hoo-ha rather than the
woodcutter to get her out of trouble. Other tropes include Cinderella, Reunion
stories where the couple have split up, Marriage of Convenience, Amnesia, Tart with a Heart or Pregnant Bride. It is
helpful to know them because then if you are writing a story, you can know the
scenes a faire (naturally arising from the plot scenes) which need to occur.
What is the point of a murder mystery story if you never have a scene where the
murderer is uncovered? If you have a pregnant heroine, it is normally best to
let the reader know what happens when she gives birth. If you have star –crossed
lovers, the family does need to find out about them.
Similarly with characters, an author only has the right to
her detailed and very unique character. You cannot copyright a tall dark
handsome hero with a stepmother and two brothers. It is far too generic. It
needs to be specific in order to make your character move than a line drawing
or sketch. A lay person has to be able
to recognise that character as unique individual rather than an archetype in order
for that character to be protected. Again it goes back to voice and the way the
author tells her story. It is not so
much about the character but the way the character is expressed on the page
which makes that character become unique in the reader’s mind.
Everyone has her unique voice. It is important to use it to
tell stories which are as old as time in a fresh and new way.
If you are interested in reading the full text of the
judgement (and the analysis of what can be protected starts on page 8) you can
do so here.
Giveaway
Because my book An Ideal Husband? is officially published on
5 April, I am doing a giveaway. The trope for An ideal Husband? is a fake
engagement and if you have a fake engagement, there does have to be a scene
where they are found out. I had a great deal of fun writing the story and hope
readers enjoy it.
UPDATE I drew Karen H's name out of the hat and a copy will be sent to her.
9 comments:
Most informative thank you!!
1852... and I loved the excerpt! Thanks!
YOu are very welcome Mary Preston.
Girlygirlhoosier -- I hope you emailed me so I can put you in the draw!
Enjoyed reading your post today. I have submitted my entry...hope I'm the lucky name out of the hat!
Very good information. Thanks for the post.
wow I just sent you my answer! thank your for the giveaway!
Love the fake engagement trope, it just never seems to work out how the couple thinks it will. :D
Love the fairy tale tropes, especially Beauty
and the Beast!
Pat C.
Hi Michelle!
I was really glad that you explain the difficulties an author has to go though to retain their ability to write a story but I also feel that something must be done to protect them from the expense and time needed so they don't have to pay the costs of going to court to defend their books against someone who doesn't understand the process.
The hours you spend to write an interesting and well written story shouldn't be questioned and hopefully the judge in the case made the person who filed the law suit against Kate was made to at least pay her attorney!
PS: Do you think it's too late for me to make my husband of 43 years the "Ideal" husband?
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