Subcategories:
Useful terms and concepts about creating works for media.
Compare and contrast Fan Speak. See also the Creators index.
Tropes:
- Abandonware
- Acting in the Dark
- All There in the Manual: Information not revealed in the work itself is given in official books and documents.
- All There in the Script: Character names that are only revealed in the script, character designs or the end credits.
- Applicability
- Ascended Fanon: The fans' interpretations of things end up becoming officially canon.
- Ashcan Copy: An adaptation is made when the company's media rights to the original work will soon expire in order to ensure that the company will be able to keep the rights for a while longer.
- Avoid the Dreaded G Rating: A movie includes some profanity or another minor instance of mature content simply to keep the movie from being rated G.
- Canon Welding
- Chekhov's Gun
- Corpsing: An actor ends up breaking character and laughing uncontrollably at something they find funny.
- Creation Myth
- Creative Differences
- Creator Backlash: The creators are ashamed that they ever made the work.
- Cross Through
- Development Gag: The work references a concept from when the work was still in development.
- Discretion Shot
- Emotional Torque
- Enforced Method Acting: Using techniques and conditions to force a genuine reaction from the actor.
- Fanwork Ban: The creator forbids fan-made content of their work being made.
- Fights Crime With X
- First Law of Resurrection: If a character is killed off, they'll come back as long as the creator wants them to.
- Front 13, Back 9
- Fully Absorbed Finale: A show that didn't get a Grand Finale has the loose ends tied up by having an episode of a spin-off series or another work taking place in the same continuity serve as a final episode of sorts to the series that ended without a proper conclusion.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every episode is named in the same way.
- Idiosyncratic Wipes
- I Just Write the Thing
- Inspiration for the Work
- Magic Franchise Word
- Magnum Opus
- Magnum Opus Dissonance
- Massive Multiplayer Crossover
- Method Acting
- Mythopoeia
- No Hugging, No Kissing
- One-Episode Wonder: A television show that ended after just one episode.
- Opening Shout-Out
- Orphaned Reference: The final work contains references to a concept or scene that was scrapped from an earlier draft.
- Parental Bonus: A work features content and references that only older viewers will notice or understand.
- Pilot Movie: A feature-length film that is intended to serve as the beginning of a television series.
- Plot Bunny
- Poorly-Disguised Pilot: An episode of a television show focuses on a different set of characters to serve as a possible pilot for a spin-off series.
- Production Nickname
- Prop: Something an actor holds or physically interacts with in a production.
- Reading In
- Rule of Perception
- Same Content, Different Rating
- Schrödinger's Gun
- Shout-Out: A work makes a reference to another work.
- Simultaneous Arcs
- Stylistic Suck: A work is deliberately made to be of poor quality.
- Traveling at the Speed of Plot
- Troubled Production: A work has endured a lot of problems in development despite eventually being finished and released.
- Villain-Based Franchise
- Worldbuilding
- Write What You Know: The creator bases the story on their own experiences.
- Write Who You Know: The creator bases a character on a Real Life person the author knows or knew.
- Writing Around Trademarks: Lawsuits are avoided by never mentioning copyrighted material directly by name.
- Wunza Plot
