Can we stop using "long-lost twin" as a twist in fantasy? It's everywhere now

I've been reading writing prompts on here for about 6 months and I swear half of them end with the hero finding out they have a secret twin sibling. It feels like a crutch, especially when there's zero setup for it. Does anyone else have a trope that they're just sick of seeing in fantasy prompts right now?

2 comments

2 Comments

kevin_carr8d ago

You know what, I actually used to roll my eyes at people complaining about this trope. I'd think "come on, it's a classic for a reason." But then I counted the prompts on my feed last week and 8 out of 30 had some version of "lost sibling reveal" and that changed my mind completely. It's crazy how fast it went from a fun twist to a predictable crutch. Even a cool idea gets worn out when it's used that often, especially when there's no breadcrumb trail leading up to it.

thomas1058d ago

Honestly I just think people need to learn the rule of setup and payoff. If your story is going to drop a twin reveal on me, there better be some hint somewhere in the first half of the narrative. A weird birthmark, a prophecy that mentions two, a character who keeps getting mistaken for someone else. Something. Otherwise it feels like you hit a wall with your plot and just typed "and then bam secret twin" to fix it. I started keeping a note on my phone of what foreshadowing I'd need if I ever used that twist, just to hold myself accountable. It forces you to actually build the story around it instead of using it as a last minute crutch. Have you tried doing that with any trope you're sick of?