More than the Sum of its Parts: Writing Beyond Tropes and Easter Eggs

When a book comes out, the publisher or the author will often promote it by describing it as a list of tropes, identities, and references. “Here’s my new novel, A Groan of Stone and Bone. It has enemies to lovers, a chaotic bisexual, BIPOC representation, elemental magic, and tons of Buffy references!”

It’s akin to any product listing: here are the specifications, the dimensions, and the features. We understand why books are marketed like this. It’s an effective way to sell products, and under capitalism a book is a commercial product. But when you start to think of the writing process that way–as a cobbling together of pre-existing parts–you usually end up with unsatisfying literature. That’s because art is not merely a product. Art is more than the sum of its parts.

In this episode of Rite Gud, we discuss why you need to take a holistic approach to writing. We are joined by Youtuber Lola Sebastian.

Links:

• Lola Sebastian’s YouTube channel
• Alexander Pope, “A Little Learning”
• TV Tropes Made a Show and It Sucks
• Silvia Moreno-Garcia on how books are marketed
• Everything Wrong with CinemaSins, Generally
• Bury Your Gays
• Fandom’s Biggest Controversy: The Story of Proshippers vs Antis
• The Junk Lady in Labyrinth 
• Danah Boyd
• Space Jam 2’s Hands Down Most Messed Up Cameo
• The Alt-Right Playbook: Introduction
• FD Signifier’s Youtube Channel
• Dan Olson’s Youtube Channel
• Maggie Mae Fish
• Melina Pendulum
• Yhara Zaid
• Foreign Man in a Foreign Land
• Cheyenne Lin

About Rite Gud: Raquel S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes, critiques and more. 

The Rite Gud theme is by Surgeryhead. Follow them on Twitter, YouTube and Soundcloud.

Rite Gud is supported by readers like you. If you enjoy what you’ve read here, please consider supporting Rite Gud on Patreon, or via the Kittysneezes Boutique. 

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