Becoming A Writer

Avoiding Cliches

Responding to question requested through my Instagram @mignonfrench

Ah, cliches - we love them, we hate them. Sometimes wattpad feels like the breeding enclosure of cliches. So if you're writing here, and this is your first time writing or publishing, I have a few tips for you.

I find with people writing stories on this app, we are usually inspired by something we read here. Whether it was the bad boy, saucy romance or whatever it is. There a few key books that I think almost everyone reads when they first join this app.

So say, for example you absolutely adore this teen fiction book. It's about a good girl that gets paired up in some way with the bad boy. You already have your cliché.

SCHOOL BRINGING TWO LOVERS

SCHOOL ACTIVITIES paring two characters together is one of the first that come to mind. You need your characters to interact and in a realistic way - so that's usually the go to.

This one of my pet-peeve cliches. And if you can find your way around it, I think you'll be quite unique.

For teen fiction; usually lover meets lover - forced together by a situation that would normally bring them together. They have a school project or bet was made on the football team who could get the nerd to fall for them first? There is the "I'll teach you maths if you help me become popular" - cliché. Of course, I am not talking down or criticising anyone who's done these tropes but they are OVER USED. So all I'm saying is how to get around them.

So bottom line is, you need your characters to forced together in some way. A way that changes ... everything....

In honesty, this is just thinking outside the box.

In my book, I had my characters therapy sessions cross over so they were forced to sit outside together for a few minutes a day.

You can do absolutely anything. For example, Does your characters cross-over because one can't swim but doesn't have the money to learn, and it's only when our character goes on a hike does she find the bad boy trying to teach himself how to swim?

My advice is to do something real. Something that's away from the usual. Not odd, that throws the audience off. But something that sets the tone for your own story and makes you stand out.

GOOD GIRL VS BAD BOY

I think one of the biggest cliches is that almost all the characters you read have the same set of morals. The bad boy is broody and hates everyone (which isn't a moral I know, but you get me) and the good girl, the golden girl, is innocent, loving and can LOVE the bad out of anything .

The goal in my book was to pick apart this cliche. I wanted the bad boy to actually be bad, not only to our good girl but to everyone. But the big thing I changed was that I wanted him to change into a better person because HE wanted to, not because some girl gave him hope.

I made the mistake of never showing or resolving my female character. She stayed Gold but she was an ex drug user, her mother forgetting her existence and her father working to the bone. She was an immigrant as well. I made the mistake of never digging into this with her and my audience.

This good girl/bad boy trope is very overused. I would steer clear or work hard on giving your characters depth, morals, rules they set themselves, internal purposes they promise to fitful.

LOVE DOESN'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT

In all my books, lovers usually kiss on the very end chapter or a few before. I was and still am a stronger believer that it takes a lot in someone to trust them enough with their heart. Well - that's in my characters anyways.

If your story is a romance story - don't give your audience all the juice in chapter 2. The book is about FALLING in love. Not breaking up, fighting, getting back together, getting with other people — don't get me wrong, it could be!

But what I'm suggesting is, don't break your characters up because you already made them fall in love. I made this mistake in my sequel and I really do kick myself for it. If your character fall in love instantly, your book is over.

UNLESS you break them apart. If this is something you're interested - go ahead. But it ripples that middle school love for me. A lack of seriousness to the romance and immature characters - maybe this is what you're going for.

But I love to make my audience and my characters work for success, work for love to work out because I personally believe loving someone takes a lot of work, a lot of trust. So instead of having them kiss right away and the character confess their love, write the book about how the character learn to trust each other enough with the weight of their lovers heart.

Again, it's all personal preference I suppose.

Parents exist. Or maybe they don't

A character home life is EXTREMELY influential on their sense of being, how they react to the world and how they react to situations. I beg and applaud you, if you give your characters families.

Your character, especially if younger, will be affected by their upbringing. A bad boy may have an overbearing father or the jock lives with his drunk aunt. This will sculpt your character and create depth.

Don't have your character wake up for school. Wave goodbye and drive away. The mother "too busy" for you to even describe her looks. I think some success in my own characters came from the depth I wrote in their home life. They suddenly became so real to the audience. The audience saw themselves in these characters.

Don't have your character family be there because the scene calls for it. Come back to them. Have your character return and interact even for a moment - it creates such character development!

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Thanks so much for reading! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile I've been so busy. I started to read your comments and felt guilty so I was like "I MUST update!!" - it's about 1am so excuse the grammar or autocorrect, I shall correct at a later date.

I'm sure you can think of a ton of cliches but there is just a few for me to point out. I hope this is helpful in some ways! <3