Friday, September 2, 2011

Five Dead-giveaways your Story is Cliché

and Some Soul Searching Questions. 


Spotting clichés in the stories of others is often easy-as-pie. But how do we know when we're seeing ourselves clearly? What if our own story sounds just as derived as fan-fiction, and we don't even know it? Our ideas feel different to us. We can see the world in our heads, and it looks nothing like Twilight or something from Disney. But is that how it's coming across to other people? We're not naming names today, or listing clichés. As useful as this can be, there are lots of places to find those. Let's talk about patterns that tend to show up in every genre and every target range--patterns in the way that you and your readers react. Here are some tell-tale signs. Read on if you are brave.

1) It reminds people of something else.       Your describing your story and your listener responds with, "Oh, like in Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter/Dragon Riders of Pern/Ender's Game/Star Wars?" Some people will ask this the moment you tell them you're writing a Fantasy etc, but we're not talking about them. This is shortly after you've started talking about your story and the events in it. Question: Why am I getting this response?  What could I do to change the immediate association people seem to be making?

2) You have to explain why it's not cliché. Often.       You tell your listener that you have elves, or wizards, and then you launch into an explanation (that in truth sound more like excuses), as to why yours are different. Chances are, they're not. If one of your ideas is really different, you wouldn't have to tell us. You wouldn't have to tell yourself. It would just be different, and we would see that in the first five seconds of being introduced to the idea. Question: Am I feeling particularly defensive about this?  How can I make my ideas immediately stand out, instead of counting on readers to "keep going?"

3) You remind yourself that "you thought of it first."      When your originality is questioned with an actual example, you refuse to change your manuscript because "you thought of it first," or that "you would have thought of it anyway." You need to explain to people that the idea came to you years before what they're seeing on the shelves. Or that what is currently on the shelves had no effect on your story. Question: Really?  Am I brave enough to change this?

4) Those names sound familiar...      You have names for things that also show up in other stories, such as: Dark Lord, Empire, Rebellion, Dragon Rider, Black Rider, Elemental or Chosen One. They're nothing like what people usually associate with the word (or are they?), but you have to explain this (once again), to people. Question: Do I really want to use the same name another author did?  Am I okay with people continuing to point out my "Dark Lord" is like Star Wars for as long as I live? What else can I call this thing?

5) People can guess how it ends.       Go ahead. Tell your mom, boyfriend, or critique partner what your story is about. Ask them how they think it ends. If they can do it a couple chapters to the end, you might want to shake things up with a twist or two. If they can do it around the middle, consider throwing in a red-herring or two. If someone can guess your end from your initial hook? You'd better get crackin' on revisions, because that's no fun for anyone. And just saying, if there's a prophecy about how things end? I'm not betting my money on your story ending any differently. Question: What would make your readers say, "Blah blah blah...I so saw that coming."  What would make readers go, "Yes! I was afraid we weren't going to make it!"  Or better yet, what would make your readers say, "What the wiggedy-whack?! My brain is blown with awesome!"

You are an author. You have the authority to sculpt your world. You don't owe anything to your muse, the Goddess of Inspiration, or your original dream. Stop having to defend your originality and go be original. Work. Sculpt. Shred. Build. Take ownership of your characters instead of letting your whims walk all over you. Be an artist. Make someone go, "Wow! I wish I'd thought of that!" ...and then smile because you make it look easy.


Christine Tyler lives in the underwater realm of the Pacific Northwest. She is accompanied by her submarine Lieutenant husband and organically grown offspring. She enjoys geology, botany, romantic chemistry and yoga. And raptors. Very much raptors. You can read more useless pontifications on her blog: The Writer Coaster Image: graur codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net







Thanks for this great post, Christine!

I tend to avoid cliches by looking at my stories from a different perspective. And by focusing on my chatacters instead on the roles they play. How do you all deal with cliches?

28 comments:

  1. Thanks Christine, for these great pointers. It sure will do us good to keep them in mind. If even one of these points hits home, then we are on a cliche trip with our story.

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  2. You've got some valid points there. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Awesome post, Christine. These are terrific questions to ask ourselves during the writing and revisions. Thanks!

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  4. Great post Christine. Cliche is definitely a big turnoff to people who read a lot. However, to readers who only have one book under their belt, they may not be able to spot it for what it is. I guess what I'm trying to say is it may depend on the market you are going for too? Middle grade and young adult can be rife with cliche because the readers haven't read all that much by the age of 13 or 14 (with a few exceptions...right?)

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  5. I'm not against the cliche--but I certainly find it so much better when an author takes a cliched character and gives them that spark of depth with a special trait or action.

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  6. Oh, those are some scary questions to ask ourselves. I'm afraid of what the answers may be.

    Great post!

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  7. These are great questions. I really like the one about figuring out the ending! I'll have to ask my CP what she thinks.

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  8. ditto the questions and pointers. Thanks.

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  9. I think often authors purposely turn to cliche because they are just trying to write commercial product that will sell. It's risky to come up with something radicallly new and hope that readers will accept it. Sometimes it's easier to stay in a comfort zone and just write a variation of something that's already out there.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  10. Wow, that was awesome! Haha, i wish i could come up with stuff like this!

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  11. I love this --> "What the wiggedy-whack?! My brain is blown with awesome!"

    It's what I want so badly. :D

    This was an excellent post. I'm always blown away when an author turns things upside and the very concept sends my mind reeling. A cliche can never have that effect no matter how great the writing is, imho.

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  12. The truth hurts because it is so true.

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  13. Interesting and insightful. I'd say something needs changing if the writer always has to defend and explain.

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  14. Great post! It can be easy to fall into cliches... thanks for the tough love!

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  15. Great insight and advice. Well said!

    People are so influenced by popular stories that it's hard not to let our own work be influenced.

    They say that impersonation is the greatest form of flattery, but being accused of the "P" word would be a very hard pill to swallow.

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  16. Awesome advice! What i hate tho, is when you think you have a really great original idea and write a story and then find out later someone else already did it... or a brand new movie comes out with the same premise.
    Heartbreaking. :(

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  17. I don't think #1 necessarily means a cliche. People TRY to compare new things to things they've already experienced. It helps them process new things better. So if someone says "Kinda like ____" it's probably ok unless they can name several things it's also like.

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  18. Great post! Those are some really wonderful questions - and certainly helpful! Thank you for sharing! :)

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  19. Thanks, Christine! Those are great signs to watch out for. My stories often start by taking something familiar and flipping it on its head.

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  20. This is so true, Christine. I actually was working on a vampire-centric story when Twilight came out, and I had to scrap it because too many people were like, "So it's like Twilight, right?"

    It's a bother sometimes when you realize that, but honestly, you have to know when you need to just give up on a work because it's too cliched or similar to other works.

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  21. Great tips and an awesome post altogether! Thanks!

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  22. Great tips and an awesome post altogether! Thanks!

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  23. great post about spotting those sneaky cliches. I giggled at the names... I recently thought up this cool name for a world and I told my husband about it only for him to turn around a remind me it's the name of certain game. OOPS!

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  24. This is a great post. Now I'm thinking about every instance when I told someone about my book. I don't think anyone's ever said, "oh, you mean like such and such book?" lol. I'm good!! Yay!!

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  25. This is a fantastic post! I think everyone should read this - I'm going to add it to my Friday Ephemera post. I think we need to be reminded of them from time to time to keep us from slipping into those cliches

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  26. Awesome post, awesome checklist! Thanks for this!

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