Clichés to Avoid

Every person's writing is different from anyone else's, but sometimes it's hard to be original, especially when there are so many difficult-to-avoid clichés out there.

In this post, I will share some of the worst clichés to avoid in each of the five different subjects below...and you'd better get used to reading that word about a dozen more times ;)

Heroes

Cliché: A prince or princess who hates his/her predestined life and longs for adventure outside the palace walls.

Mix it up: A prince or princess who loves his/her life as a royal and is afraid (or too selfish) to leave the safety and comfort of the palace walls. But when adventure comes knocking, he/she chooses to go on the heroic quest, despite the dangers.

Cliché: A guy who finds out that he has some sort of power within him, and/or that he is actually from a different world.

Mix it up: A guy who knows that he has a power and/or is from a different world, but needs to keep it hidden.

Villains

Cliché: A villain who has no real reason for being evil, dresses in dark clothes, and is named something that screams, "I'm a bad guy!"

Mix it up: A villain with a tragic past who wants revenge on everyone that made his/her life miserable, no longer caring if innocent lives get in the way. He/she might pretend to be good (even the devil disguises himself as an angel of light) and gain pity from the Hero (Gollum anyone?).

Beginnings

Cliché: Beginning your story with, "It was night and I was running through the forest..." 

Mix it up: Usually, even starting your story in the middle of a dark forest is a bad idea, but there are ways to catch the readers' attention without making them roll their eyes. For instance:

"My body slammed into a tree, the force of my collision sending me flying backwards onto the dead leaves of the forest floor. The movies were right, I realized: looking back was never a good idea."

I established that the Hero is running through a forest, and that he/she is probably being followed (he/she slammed into a tree after looking back over his/her shoulder). It's good to start out with a BANG! and some humor, if you're in the right mood.

Cliché: Beginning your story with, "I jerked awake, the nightmares still clear in my mind..."

Mix it up: "My reflection stared back at me from the bathroom mirror - swollen eyes, green skin, and pale lips. My stomach lurched again and I hurled into the sink. Mom wasn't going to be happy. Who knew nightmares could be so vivid."

I established that the Hero looks tired (not sleeping), is sick (something scared him/her very badly), and that he/she had a nightmare. Bing, bang, boom.

Introductions

Cliché: Starting with an elaborate description of your Hero, "She squinted her blue eyes at her reflection as she braided her blonde hair, wishing her skin wasn't so pale..." Detail overload!

Mix it up: "She was jealous of the other girl's amber eyes and mocha brown locks, wishing her own features were as richly colored."

I let the reader know that the Hero is plain (in her own opinion), establishing her features without directly referring to her. 

Romance

Cliché: Girl bumping into guy, locking gazes with him, and ending with the immediate assumption that these two will eventually meet again and fall in love.

Mix it up: The girl might be shy, hurry on with a quiet 'sorry', and not even look to see who she bumped into. Or, the girl might be sassy and immediately blurt an angry accusation. If she has a hard (as in 'unfriendly') personality, she won't be taken off guard if the guy is attractive.

Really though, do girls fall in love with every guy they meet, just because he's good-looking?

Questions? Thoughts? Plain old (much appreciated) comments? By all means, share!