The TV Tropes Wiki: How to waste hours of your life

the main page wrote:This wiki is a catalog of the tricks of the trade for writing fiction. We dip into the cauldron of story, whistle up a hearty spoonful and splosh it in front of you to devour to your heart's content.

Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. On the whole, tropes are not clichés. The word clichéd means "stereotyped and trite." In other words, dull and uninteresting. We are not looking for dull and uninteresting entries. We are here to recognize tropes and play with them, not to make fun of them.

Rival Kiryn wrote:Four? Pah. I've had at least twenty open before.

I'm kind of a regular, troper handle's "Danger" (boring story behind that) and yes, it's ruined my life and vocabulary.