Young Writers Society

It's been bugging me that I can't figure out why I'm being told one of my stories is too cliche. I just don't get it.

Tell us a story you think is cliche or ask questions about your story and try and ask a question about it being cliche. Make it a question that explains the story and what story it reminds a reader of. We may be able to help.

Now...
Me:
I have no idea why this is thought but a reviewer has said my story Get over it my friend is clinching with Twilight. Now I've read that book and it doesn't (to me) sound anything like my story. Any suggestions?

about the twilight thing...

I think all readers are still trying to get over their obsessive compulsive disorder with the book. I for one found it extremely hard to stop relating it to everything i saw a while after reading it. the books like dang cocaine and takes a while to get out of your system.

maybe your critic's just trying to get over twilight-mind-wandering and is niavly relating your story to it.

idk. just a suggestion//

but yes, it is hard to write non-cliche stories. especially on YWS where all of us are young (no duh) and think along the same guidelines while getting tips from other young people that we encorperate into our own writing

Just because someone claims something to be cliche doesn't necessarily make it true. I've read stories that have been taken from the authors' own lives that have been called cliche by some newb reader or flamer, and many times it means nothing.

Now, before I make my next point, I'm going to explain just a bit of psychology, because otherwise I will get all jumbled up DX So, people usually have generic templates for every aspect of life, usually based on something very common. This just means that people create a prototype idea or image of something until they're given more details, because when something is left to interpretation, the safest bet is to go with whatever has had a tendency to appear most.

There are some story ideas that are called cliche because they don't waver from that fixed expectation, and so they don't really make the reader wonder what's coming next. Things like the shy school girl paired with the arrogant, popular guy or the peasant girl who catches the eye of the prince. If there isn't some sort of interesting twist on the story, something that isn't expected, then the reader can pretty much guess what will happen.

It can also be that there is, in fact, an unexpected twist, but the story takes to long to get there. If you have to read halfway through a book just to find something cosmic that happens, that really makes you want to read more, then you may put the book down before it reaches that point.

Squishy has a point too. We're all young writers, still experimenting and learning more about the art of storytelling. All of us have a long way to go, but as we learn to stretch our imaginations, think more creatively, and find more ways to use language, we'll all improve.

As for the Twilight thing...I've never read it, but I'll trust Squishy's word on it ^_^;

I've never had the problem with something being cliché, I think because everything I write is real different from the norm, anyway. But I'll try to make sense in this...

Lets say you have a boy meets girl story. Boy meets girl, there you go. That's cliché though. So what do you do? You get rid of stereotypes, for one. Instead of your girl being a cheerleader, make her a book lover. And instead of your boy being the ultra-hunk, make him the kid who lights stuff on fire a lot and gets in trouble. I'll take an example from Razorblade Saint's old story, Ahoy Insanity. It's about these two kids who become friends, but why is it not cliché? Because the girl has an embarrassing stutter, and the boy has a horrifying burn on his face that kids make fun of him for. It's all about going for something that will interest your reader -- kind of like what Kagerou said.


One thing to keep in mind though: you say they mention Twilight, so I am assuming your writing about vampires. Vampires are cliché, and there isn't a thing you can do about it. They've been in literature since, and in fact before, Bram Stoker, they came into romantic popularity through Anne Rice, and now Twilight is making vampires big with the young crowd. I tried writing a vampire novel a few years ago, and what I found is that you really have to break out of the mold when you do it. I think Meyer's story is cliché, but she has something else. She has characters that teens can love, and relate to, and even though the story on the surface is cliché, what is underneath it isn't. (Wow, this is coming from the Twilight-hater.)

I hope that helped? I think I just babbled though...

quoted from kagerou453
Just because someone claims something to be cliche doesn't necessarily make it true. I've read stories that have been taken from the authors' own lives that have been called cliche by some newb reader or flamer, and many times it means nothing.

Now, before I make my next point, I'm going to explain just a bit of psychology, because otherwise I will get all jumbled up DX So, people usually have generic templates for every aspect of life, usually based on something very common. This just means that people create a prototype idea or image of something until they're given more details, because when something is left to interpretation, the safest bet is to go with whatever has had a tendency to appear most.

There are some story ideas that are called cliche because they don't waver from that fixed expectation, and so they don't really make the reader wonder what's coming next. Things like the shy school girl paired with the arrogant, popular guy or the peasant girl who catches the eye of the prince. If there isn't some sort of interesting twist on the story, something that isn't expected, then the reader can pretty much guess what will happen.

It can also be that there is, in fact, an unexpected twist, but the story takes to long to get there. If you have to read halfway through a book just to find something cosmic that happens, that really makes you want to read more, then you may put the book down before it reaches that point.

Squishy has a point too. We're all young writers, still experimenting and learning more about the art of storytelling. All of us have a long way to go, but as we learn to stretch our imaginations, think more creatively, and find more ways to use language, we'll all improve.

As for the Twilight thing...I've never read it, but I'll trust Squishy's word on it ^_^;

People don't tell me my stories are cliched, they just say that they can't understand what's going on in them. I think I show too much and alienate the reader completely.

I've seen some people who use the word cliche in almost every review they post on this site. The fact of the matter is, there is no book or movie in the world that cannot be compared to some other book or movie in existence. I was once accused of lifting story ideas from the plot of a video game I had never even heard of.

When it comes to ideas you use, I tend to like the fairy tale method. The reason there are so many different versions of a fairy tale is because there was a time when most people didn't create their own stories, they just retold ones they knew, putting their own personality in it. Write the story that you like and use the idea that works best for you. If it is an idea that you have seen a lot, don't worry. If it really is what your story needs, use it.

It doesn't matter terribly much whether your story is "cliche" or not. What matters most is execution.

An original story marred by bad execution will suck.

Prokaryote