I've looked at TV Tropes once in a while. I've seen a few entries I thought were pretty good and others I thought were stretching the idea of a "trope" pretty far. Perhaps beyond the breaking point.
But then, I've noticed that people online seem to confuse tropes with themes, archetypes, plots and other such things.
As for writers writing to tropes, I guess they can outline however they want, but the final product is what matters.
Personally, I think it's the story that matters. If the story needs an old witch living alone in the woods, then she better damned well be there or the story suffers. Putting her there or leaving her out just because people will call it a trope is making a mistake.
As for worrying about people not judging a work on the quality of the writing but on the tropes, well, I think the first lesson a writer needs to learn is that the reader is outside authorial control. No matter what the work is, some readers will misinterpret it, hate it, read a lot of personal crap into it and otherwise misunderstand it terribly. They'll talk about how elements are obviously references to X, Y or Z from the author's life, regardless of what was actually going on in the author's head when the words were written. They'll judge or dismiss the whole work on a single element, plot point, character, word, cover art, typeface, or other. They'll be full of ideas about how it could have been better.
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But then, I've noticed that people online seem to confuse tropes with themes, archetypes, plots and other such things.
As for writers writing to tropes, I guess they can outline however they want, but the final product is what matters.
Personally, I think it's the story that matters. If the story needs an old witch living alone in the woods, then she better damned well be there or the story suffers. Putting her there or leaving her out just because people will call it a trope is making a mistake.
As for worrying about people not judging a work on the quality of the writing but on the tropes, well, I think the first lesson a writer needs to learn is that the reader is outside authorial control. No matter what the work is, some readers will misinterpret it, hate it, read a lot of personal crap into it and otherwise misunderstand it terribly. They'll talk about how elements are obviously references to X, Y or Z from the author's life, regardless of what was actually going on in the author's head when the words were written. They'll judge or dismiss the whole work on a single element, plot point, character, word, cover art, typeface, or other. They'll be full of ideas about how it could have been better.
But some people will get it. Write for them.