A list of tropes to start you off with...
Here are some common contemporary and romantic comedy tropes:
- Enemies to lovers
- Friends to lovers
- Fake dating
- Falling for brother's best friend
- Single dad romance
- Opposites attract
- Work place romance
- Stuck together
- Grumpy/sunshine
- Good girl / bad boy
- Love triangles
- Second chance romance
- The chosen one - like Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker
- The broken hero who goes on to do amazing things
- The villain disguised as a hero
- The lone wolf looks after a child or young sidekick - that can be like the grumpy/sunshine trope
- The villain who becomes the good guy - anti-hero
- The bad guy's kid who redeems him or herself
- Time travel is always a fun trope to play with
- Kick-ass heroine
- Bad girl finds redemption
- Bad boy finds redemption
- The protective father-figure who would do anything for the ones he loves
- The mama bear who will fight for her cubs
a list of universal fantasies to start you off with...
- Being forced to move somewhere out of your comfort zone
- The mystery location and mysterious past. Where are they going? Where have they come from?
- The bully/bad boy/cool guy notices you in spite of the fact you feel like a nobody
- He changes for her - this is the bad boy redemption story
- A fixer upper - a character who just needs a little work, and when the right people or person comes into his/her life they start to change for the better… that ties in beautifully with the grumpy/sunshine trope or the trope where the tough hero is stuck looking after a kid who softens him up.
- Or this fixer upper could be a project - like a rundown house that needs renovations or a company that's in dire straits and your character is going to come in there like a whirlwind and save the day.
- Wounded main character needs healing and tender care
- Loved one in danger
- Protecting his woman
- The makeover
- Family reunited
- Cozy small town
- Disarming the bomb
- Doing the right thing
- Sacrificing everything for love
- Getting what you've always dreamed of