genre convention
Expected narrative patterns
Genre conventions are the recurring elements, techniques, and expectations that define a particular type of creative work.
In fiction, the detective story has its conventions: a crime, clues, a sleuth who pieces things together.
Romance has the meet-cute and the happily-ever-after.
Horror relies on building dread.
These conventions establish reader expectations—following them creates satisfaction, subverting them creates surprise.
The film plays with noir conventions while telling a modern story.
- tropeRecurring narrative device
- plot deviceStorytelling element advancing action
- clichéOverused, unoriginal expression
- formulaFixed method or notation
- narrative arcStory's overall shape
expectation · archetype · motif · template · unreliable narrator · fourth wall break · parody · homage · noir · dark and stormy night · romance · thriller · horror · western · detective · twist · climax · opening hook
- storytellingstorytelling, story, tale, narrative, narrator
- screenwritingscreenplay, screenplays, screenwriter, screenwriting, script
- narratologynarrative, narrator, plot, story, character
genre conventioninnovation
Creating something original
subversion · rule-breaking · unconventionality · genre-bending · transgression
genre conventionoriginality
Novel creative quality
novelty · invention · trailblazing · sui generis · pioneering
genre, convention, genres, conventional, conventionally, unconventional, conventionality, conventions, generic