(The sound of a pen scratching.) LOGO.
Hellooo everybody! It's time for more moanin’ and groanin’! I am breaking down the 10
absolute worst tropes in contemporary fiction in my humble, completely correct opinion.
If you're not familiar, contemporary fiction is pretty much anything that takes place in
the present day. It usually involves real people in real-world, present-day situations. However,
it can be connected with other genres like contemporary fantasy or contemporary romance.
Because of this, I will be focusing on contemporary fiction that takes place in
the present day regardless of whether or not the work is multi-genre. Contemporary fiction can
be awesome, but it can also be a flaming pile of shit, and that's what we're talking about today.
Before we get started, I wanted to give my love to Skillshare who has sponsored today's video!
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around until the end of this video to find out more. I also wanted to remind you that I've got
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for queer youths. I am setting funding goals throughout this drive, and for each goal met,
one donor will be randomly chosen to win a prize! One of these prizes includes an ARC–that is an
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funding goal and these are the number of prizes I will be handing out thus far. While you're here,
please subscribe to my channel and ring that bell! I post videos on Wednesdays with bonus
content on Mondays. Usually, we talk about tropes, we talk about writing, we talk about all that good
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can win stuff. Yeah! And don't forget my dark fantasy novel The Savior's Sister is available
in audiobook right now, so if you love audiobooks, definitely check it out! If you're new to Audible,
you can listen to it for free. I got it linked below. On to the 10 worst tropes in contemporary
fiction. Please note, this is just my personal opinion and I am entitled to change my mind.
But also please note that I am 100% correct and anyone who disagrees with me is a flaming pile
of cat turd. Number One (1): Present tense. This is not a trope, but it's my video, so...whatever! I do
what I want! I am not a fan of present tense writing, to put it politely. I think present
tense is gross and should be shipped off to a far away wasteland where it can die a slow and worthy
death. But present tense is usually the tense of choice for literary and contemporary fiction,
and this pains me. Why do you want your narrative to sound like a sports commentator?
“She walks to the store. She sees the bird. She contemplates death. Score!” What's extra
weird is that present tense writers are very protective of present tense, which is fine,
but it's just a tense. Protect something that matters, like the rain forest or human rights.
I'm just saying, present tense is kinda awkward and contemporary fiction is full of it, so...that's
just great. Number Two (2): Poor little rich kid. I don't know what it is with contemporary
fiction and rich people. It seems like every other contemporary novel I see–particularly contemporary
romance–involves some rich bitch whining about how sad and lonely they are because they're so,
so rich. Cry me a fuckin’ river! I'm not saying wealth doesn't have its struggles,
but you know what causes even worse struggles? Poverty! You want me to feel bad for a character
who is gorgeous and wealthy and popular just because they feel so alone in their mansion?
Buy a fuckin' condo, then. You have the money! Maybe don't drive around in a Lambo. Buy a Honda
and blend in with the regular folk. “But Jenna, Hondas are so ugly!” I know, so shut the fuck up
and enjoy your money, you privileged dickhole. Number Three (3): “I just wanna be normal.”
This is particularly prevalent in young adult contemporary fiction and young adult contemporary
fantasy. “I don't wanna be this really cool thing! I just want to be a normal teenager.”
This is bullshit. The only people on this planet who want to be ‘normal’ are those who are othered
based on prejudice, but these characters never fit into these categories. They're always able-bodied,
white, cishet teens who don't want to be the next fae princess or don't want to be the homecoming
king. “Ew, that's so weird!” Have you met a teenager? They're constantly trying to stand out,
to get noticed, to be famous. There's an entire app devoted to teenagers learning dances so they
can become internet celebrities. Unless this kid is battling discrimination, you can't convince
me they want to be normal. I'm just not buying it. Number Four (4): Stakes so low. I live in the real
world. I buy groceries. I pay taxes. I shit and piss like the rest of 'em. I also experience real
world problems, like arguing with friends, family conflict, or medical scares. So when I read
fiction, I need the stakes to be pretty damn high in order to get invested, and contemporary fiction
rarely delivers. It's understandable why. In other worlds and timelines, you can have aliens. You can
have wars, and monsters, and corrupt royals. In contemporary fiction, these options are limited,
which is fine. But honestly, if someone isn't getting murdered, I don't care. I recently read a
contemporary fiction where the breaking point was one character giving another character the cold
shoulder. Oh no, call the police! I literally watched my fiance almost die. If you expect
me to care about some petty bullshit, you're sadly mistaken. Number Five (5): The hipster
douche. “I'm not like other main characters. I'm different. Contemplative. An old soul.
My favorite book is The Great Gatsby, my favorite movie is Citizen Kane, and my favorite band is The
Beatles. You know, just some of the most famous pieces of media in history. But they're old,
and that's what makes me special.” Contemporary fiction is filled with characters who pride
themselves on being 'not like everyone else,' because they like shit that literally everyone
likes. The Great Gatsby is a classic. The Beatles is one of, if not, the most popular bands of all
time. But these characters are gonna wax poetic about how they're eccentric. And these characters
are all the same! They're just these generic white teens or twenty-somethings who smoke cigarettes
ironically and spout meaningless philosophy and wear ugly grandma sweaters to cover their pasty
ass bodies. You're not unique just cause you don't listen to Cardi B and you're not smart
just ‘cause you don't read smut. Number Six (6): Inspiration porn. Contemporary fiction is famous
for its inspiration porn. An able-bodied author who did zero research writes about a disabled
character whose trauma will serve as inspiration to the readers. Someone give this author an award!
We love exploiting people for personal gain. Besides, are you even allowed to write about
a disabled or neurodivergent character unless you're doing it for the sole sake of inspiring
readers who don't give a shit about disabled or neurodivergent people in real life? Why not
write a love story about a disabled guy who kills himself at the end and we’ll all say it was so,
so beautiful? That's a real book and they made it into a movie because people loved it that much.
Holy shit! Obviously, inspiration porn comes in a wide variety but the disability variety
is very prevalent in contemporary fiction. Thanks for making a huge group of people feel completely
othered and exploited, asshole. On a related note, Number Seven (7): Tragedy. A lot of
genres eat up tragedy, but contemporary writers masturbate to it. They have a very particular
formula. They're going to write a super boring story and then everyone will die at the end,
but don't worry! It's supposed to make you think. Yeah, I'm thinking about how I've lost hours of my
life reading this shitty ass book! I'm thinking about how I could have been doing something fun,
or at least reading something happy. Contemporary writers, why you gotta give your characters a
life-threatening disease just for the sake of a metaphor? I know I said I wanted the stakes
to be high, but I also didn't want to fall into a depressive hole. My brain chemistry already
has that covered! Look, it's fine if you want to kill people, but for God's sake, at least make
it entertaining. Number Nine (9): The nice guy. Nice guys thrive in contemporary fiction, mostly
because a lot of contemporary fiction writers are incels. If you're not familiar with the nice guy,
I'm going to assume you're an alien. But hey, that's all right. Live long and prosper! A nice
guy is someone who said maybe one or two polite things to a woman and thinks that that has earned
him pussy. Then he gets his panties in a knot when it doesn't work out that way, usually because he's
ugly and a creep. There are so many contemporary stories that follow a man or a boy pining over a
woman who doesn't want him, and we're supposed to pity him, because...he's entitled to sex,
I guess? It's just gross and makes you assume all kinds of unflattering things about the author.
He's probably gonna say his story is poetic, and he might even win some kind of award because
the literary community is filled with basement dwellers just like him. And last but not least,
Number Ten (10): Snobbery. If you majored in creative writing, then you already know. I didn't,
because I knew better. Contemporary fiction, specifically within the literary fiction realm,
tends to have an air of pretentiousness. This is why creative writing students are encouraged to...
not be creative and write contemporary and or literary fiction exclusively. Fantasy, sci-fi,
romance, mystery? Get out of here! It's not like those are some of the highest selling genres in
the industry. Who cares about entertaining your readers and paying your bills? I'm personally of
the mindset that no genre or category is less than another. There are ones that I prefer,
absolutely. But that doesn't really make a difference. Every single genre serves
its purpose and has an audience, so I don't understand the snobbery around one particular
niche. It seems kinda silly, like you're priding yourself on something pretty meaningless. Pride
yourself in your character and how you treat people. And of course, you can pride yourself
on the fact that you're a good writer, but it seems kinda weird to pride yourself on
the fact that your stories are set in the present day and carry some kind of philosophical meaning.
Get your priorities right. It ain't that deep! So that's all I got for you today! Thank you again to
Skillshare for sponsoring today's video! I cannot stress enough how much I enjoy this platform–so
much so that I am both a student and a teacher! If you're interested in growing your craft,
or learning new skills, or taking any of my classes, definitely check out Skillshare
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it, so do it! And of course, a friendly reminder I've got my Trevor Project fundraiser and giveaway
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