I may have accidentally included seven more must-have YA tropes in my new novel. All genre fiction works through tropes, those familiar plot and character devices that readers know, love and expect. From the long list of tropes in Young Adult fiction, here are seven that genre-readers consider indispensable.
The Chosen One
Fate, destiny, prophecy: they all point to our protagonist’s path to greatness. Save a village, save a kingdom, save the world. Only our main character has the blood, the magic, or the knowledge to do what must be done.
The Reluctant Hero
The protagonist initially resists, but ultimately walks the path: fate, destiny or this week’s lottery. A sense of duty or responsibility grows with their coming-of-age maturity.
Hidden Identity
The protagonist conceals their secret identity to protect themselves or others. Or else they discover their previously unknown identity or inheritance. Heir to a bloodline, kingdom or power, the secret must be kept until the time is right for the big reveal.
Damsel in Distress
Usually the female protagonist needs a rescue by her love-interest or found-family crew. This traditional trope is more often subverted or used ironically in YA fiction.
Coming of Age
Personal growth and self-discovery marks the protagonist’s journey from adolescence to adulthood. It shapes their character, outlook and world-view. No longer a child by the end, innocence or naivete gives way to experience.
Beyond Ordinary
The protagonist begins as the most mundane, even low-status character. They have no power or influence within their society. Exploited, outcast or enslaved, perhaps? Their journey from insignificant to extraordinary becomes all the more impactful.
All Adults are Useless
In most YA novels, adults are absent, incompetent, vain, selfish, arrogant, patronizing, or negligent. The worst of them are ambitious, immoral, cruel and often violent. They certainly don’t understand the protagonist’s problems. The best of them willfully ignore the protagonist’s warnings, information, and suggestions. The younger generation ends up fixing things themselves. And usually they build a new society or social order in the process.
Seven Proofs
So those are seven more must-have YA tropes. And how embedded are they in my story?
Yari Tamm is the typical abandoned child: no power, no influence, no social status, no real skills. But Yari is a self-selecting Chosen One. Nobody else is going to finish her quest. She wants only one thing, and to get it she has to stop multiple conspiracies. Reluctantly she steps up the the plate, armed with an understanding of her hidden power. But not before Niemy and Mikailut save her from distress. She rails against the moniker ‘child’ and has her eye on two potential boyfriends by the end.
And the adults? Wilfully patronizing, doubting, shirking and lying throughout. Yari has to go to war to save the Republic.