A Practical Guide For All Writers. Keeping Cliche-Free And Original.
The most far-fetched cliche there ever was or ever will be is a peasant boy saving the world.
Now just think about it for a minute.
A peasant boy, saving the world.
It is used over and again repeatedly in all sorts of stories.
And not only is it cliched, it makes the main character, girl or boy, much more like a Mary-Stu or Gary-Stu (look it up if you don't know what they are, it's a very important part of writing, but I can't get sidetracked at the moment).
Saving a nation is one thing, but saving the world??? No, it's not necessary and - frankly - it can get quite boring.
So saving the world is basically an absolute no-no. It can be done with moderate success, but truth be told, it's getting old.
We all like to think of young heroes, faced with the task of saving the world from seemingly unstoppable doom. And when the hero wins, we feel happy. Fantasy is like that, it's awesome, not only because it expands the imagination, it shows us daring feats, heroism that satisfies beyond the glint of gold or the shining of jewels.
Yes, we all have that tingling inside us that our main character has to do something great, something fantastical.
But the truth is, it doesn't work that way. If any one man saved our world, it would have been Jesus, no one else. And since your main character isn't Jesus, it's far out that he would - or even could - save the world.
So to avoid this cliche that can really make your story boring, keep one thing in mind - be reasonable. Don't make your character a Mary Stu/Gary Stu by making him/her save the world.
Imagine this. You are on one side of a river, and your reader is on the other. Now you want the reader to come into your world - your side of the river, so you build a bridge.
Now say the reader will only come over, and you can only build the bridge, if your writing is realistic enough - even High Fantasy has a lot of realistic elements.
And so, as you build the bridge, each word you write impacts the form of the bridge. Is it weak in some areas? Strong in others? Will it break in the times of doubt and let the reader pass into the roaring waters below?
This would be if your reader gets bored, and cliches are what makes them bored.
A Mary Stu/Gary Stu character will definitely make the reader bored, and maybe he'll leave even before he begins the journey over the bridge.
And if the character saves the world, it's weakening that part of the bridge, you'll need supports made of creativity and originality to hold it up.
Thus, cliches are BAD, REALLY BAD.
They sure won't help in the bridge you are trying to build.
~The WordWeaver
P.S. I'll respond to the comments... soon!
The most far-fetched cliche there ever was or ever will be is a peasant boy saving the world.
Now just think about it for a minute.
A peasant boy, saving the world.
It is used over and again repeatedly in all sorts of stories.
And not only is it cliched, it makes the main character, girl or boy, much more like a Mary-Stu or Gary-Stu (look it up if you don't know what they are, it's a very important part of writing, but I can't get sidetracked at the moment).
Saving a nation is one thing, but saving the world??? No, it's not necessary and - frankly - it can get quite boring.
So saving the world is basically an absolute no-no. It can be done with moderate success, but truth be told, it's getting old.
We all like to think of young heroes, faced with the task of saving the world from seemingly unstoppable doom. And when the hero wins, we feel happy. Fantasy is like that, it's awesome, not only because it expands the imagination, it shows us daring feats, heroism that satisfies beyond the glint of gold or the shining of jewels.
Yes, we all have that tingling inside us that our main character has to do something great, something fantastical.
But the truth is, it doesn't work that way. If any one man saved our world, it would have been Jesus, no one else. And since your main character isn't Jesus, it's far out that he would - or even could - save the world.
So to avoid this cliche that can really make your story boring, keep one thing in mind - be reasonable. Don't make your character a Mary Stu/Gary Stu by making him/her save the world.
Imagine this. You are on one side of a river, and your reader is on the other. Now you want the reader to come into your world - your side of the river, so you build a bridge.
Now say the reader will only come over, and you can only build the bridge, if your writing is realistic enough - even High Fantasy has a lot of realistic elements.
And so, as you build the bridge, each word you write impacts the form of the bridge. Is it weak in some areas? Strong in others? Will it break in the times of doubt and let the reader pass into the roaring waters below?
This would be if your reader gets bored, and cliches are what makes them bored.
A Mary Stu/Gary Stu character will definitely make the reader bored, and maybe he'll leave even before he begins the journey over the bridge.
And if the character saves the world, it's weakening that part of the bridge, you'll need supports made of creativity and originality to hold it up.
Thus, cliches are BAD, REALLY BAD.
They sure won't help in the bridge you are trying to build.
~The WordWeaver
P.S. I'll respond to the comments... soon!
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