A lot of my ideas are for middle grade to young adult genre, and a lot of that naturally includes teens/young adults, and high school, possibly college, stuff like that. But I want to avoid being cliche with it, since some of this stuff can be way overdone and way over-trope-ified (new word of the day). Any ideas, tips, or advice are welcome here!
Some cliches are fine but just try not to overdo it like. Don't make the main character just attractive to everyone and things like that. Like try to include flaws, but not like gaping, absolute flaws, and if there is a cliche, try to point it out as a comedic moment.
please, no love triangles, no long-lost heirs reclaiming their kingdom, no 2D villains only out for power or revenge just because :’) those are some tropes that annoy me the most XD it’s totally cool if you add a twist or some humor to tropes, though! like instead of the female lead going with the male lead in the love triangle, they all just end up as besties instead :>
Personally, I don't think there are 'bad' cliches that need to be avoided. Instead, there are just tropes that are frequently done poorly, which create a lot of stigma and can even create/foster stereotypes. So please write this, actually, I encourage you to go for them! Just do them well haha!!
Adding on to what others have said, here are some I have noticed from reading:
young children/teens outsmarting people who are clearly more educated (not saying this doesn't happen, but it takes away the fact that younger kids do not know EVERYTHING)
the idea of going from plain girl/guy/person to the most desirable girl/guy/person in school
hot guy has no idea he is hot
soulmates in high school/fate brings us together no matter what (for example that book, 'The Sun is Also a Star' -that is the only good example I can think of. It has its flaws but didn't suck too badly)
that drunk abusive dad that has no reason to be like that
violence is the only way to solve problems, or extreme reactions to minor problems (I am thinking mean girls vibes- totally adds of to high school character tropes)
the hottest guy in school is obsessed with main character but she doesn't want him, even though he is a DREAM to everyone else
the whole 'im not like other girls' mood or the 'chosen one' prophecy mood
Those are just a few... I could think of so many more lol
Who's to say that my light is better than your darkness? Who's to say death is better than your darkness? Who am I to say?
Oh the whole "unlikeable" protagonist BS puts me into such a rage lather.
Why can't your character be unlikeable? Why does she have to be perfect so everyone loves her and relates to her? (which, spoiler, there's no way for your character to be relatable to everyone. If she's in an on again off again relationship, she's already unrelatable to anyone who's never experienced that)
Male teen characters make mistakes all the time, or are a**holes, and no one blinks an eye about whether he makes a good protagonist, but female main characters doing the same? Nah, she needs to be "likeable" first and foremost. Please don't fall into that trap. Make your main character complicated and real, and if that makes her "unlikeable" then so be it. At least she'll be well-rounded.
Okay, so now that I've said my peace about that (or at least, am temporarily not worked up about it again) tropes aren't inherently bad.
If you're writing a contemporary YA (which it seems like) then there's really only so many options for a relationship status: single, or in a relationship. And then varying shades in each of those categories (eg, never had a BF/GF, had one but is now single, have BF/GF but it's the first one, have had a lot of BF/GFs)
So there's really no way to reinvent the wheel, there.
What makes it different is you. Your spin on it, your character's motivations and goals, the plot, all of those things mashed together.
