All About the Tease: Tropes and Tassles
And a Million Dollars Worth of Feathers Dita Style.
Tropes and burlesque? What can they possibly have in common?
Stick with me, Gentle Reader!
Last week, I was in Vegas for the final 20books Conference, meeting old friends, making new ones, or jamming my brain full of new ideas.
But, the highlight of my trip was attending the Horseshoe Casino Dita Las Vegas Burlesque Showgirl Spectacle.
Thanks to an article in Vogue, I learned about the just-opened show before the conference started. Even better, Author Alchemy Conference guru and fantasy author Jessie Kwak was game for an evening of feathers and frivolity. It was a hastily conceived plan yet a brilliant way to cap off the week.
Burlesque takes your expectation that there will be progressively less clothing in performance and uses feathers, fans, and outrageously oversized hats to create tension.
But what is it about burlesque that tickles a Trope Obsessive like me?
It’s more than just a love of feathers (so many feathers!)—burlesque is all about the tease. It creates story tension through music, lighting, costume, and artistic expression.
And guess what? As authors, we do the same thing with tropes!
Tropes are like a shiny tassel, button, or bow. They’re a story hook that we grab onto as we follow the story. Think forbidden love, revenge, or a tortured hero. These tropes make us lean in closer; what will happen next to our characters?
I often think of tropes as breadcrumbs, but sequins or rhinestones are much more fun. As authors, we get to arrange them in any way that tells our story best. Seeing Dita’s costumes inspired me because it was the sum of carefully planned details.
After three days of thinking hard about many aspects of being an author, Dita Las Vegas was a glittery reminder—-it’s all about engagement. That’s what comes first and last.
Being swept up in the experience of a book, movie, or a mighty fine burlesque show gives all of our overtaxed brains a break. And we all need that.
Granted, most of us aren’t using pasties to tell our stories (such a shame, but no one can outshine Dita anyway); however, we can entice our readers in the same way.
Tropes are about relationships, but we can’t drop that on the reader on page one; we need to reel them as delicately as removing a long-sleeved glove.
Give them characters they love, root for, or hate. Dig deeply into the whys of what the characters do. But most of all, transport us out of our weary lives.
Because we can’t all dress like Dita, but we can plot like her.
