Young Writers Society

I was doing a bit of research for a friend of mine concerning fantasy writing. We had noticed that there were way too may Cliches in fantasy and that with most Fantasy you could guess what was going to happen (which ruined all the fun).

Chance to see of your writing contains cliches you might want to get rid of.
Here are some links to sites I visited and I found helpful in identifying cliches.

Read through, comment, learn.

http://amethyst-angel.com/cliche.html

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Labyrin ... liche.html

http://redmolly.typepad.com/picayunedem ... tter_.html

Eh, I don't know if I agree with all the cliches from the second list.

"One twin is good the other is evil."
^ well, this one, obviously

"Revenge as a motivator."
^ but this isn't a cliche; it's a plot device.

"Dark minions are idiots."
^ even this one isn't happening so much anymore.

Interesting stuff nevertheless. But most of the "cliches" in fantasy are elements that make them fantasy in the first place, so by writing a "cliche-less" fantasy, more often than not, you won't even be writing a fantasy story anymore.

The first list says:

#11. - Evil emperors:

--crave wealth, money and power

Well, DUH! What kind of evil emperor would he be if he craved charity, goodwill and humility?

#40. - The heroes fight their way to the villain's inner sanctum to find the villain, dressed in somber colors, playing creepy music on a pipe organ.

Hehe, that's just funny!