How to Subvert Romance Tropes

Diane Callahan
20 min readOct 28, 2022
Text: How to Subvert Romance Tropes; Background: books and hearts

We all know there’s nothing new under the sun. No matter what you do, your story will be similar to another story in some way, but that’s actually a good thing! Readers and publishers are looking for narratives they already enjoy but with a twist: familiarity plus novelty. Subverting tropes means that the author brings a fresh element to a beloved story type, adding surprise and intrigue.

Tropes vs. Clichés