I was reading an article entitled Common Trope Traps: A Reader’s Guide for Writers detailing common “overused tropes”, as the writer put it. After reading this, it brings home the thought that every medium that involves a story, be it a movie, novel, video games, and yes even, manga and anime, must deal with the issue of cliche’s, tropes, stereotypes and being just like (enter popular title here). What’s a writer to do?
Several things actually! Writer’s can:
1. Embrace the cliche!
2. Make fun of the cliche, or
3. Learn from the cliche (and make something different)
I. Embrace the Cliche!
Cliches are tried and true and though you may initially find it repellant due to it’s unoriginality, cliches are tried and true for a reason – because they work! People are familiar with them and when done right, people eat them up and never seem to tire of them.
One popular cliche you may be familiar with is the awkward, nobody teen who tries to find his or her place in society. Through some trials, which may be embarrassing, funny, or down-right harsh and fraught with danger, they emerge having “grown-up” and finding their own place in the world. They call these coming-of-age tales marking a youths transition from adolescence to adulthood. Some of these tales include Luke Skywalker (Star Wars), Sen (Spirited Away), Simba (The Lion King), Makoto Konno (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), and many, many more. Though settings, time and other factors may make one story different from another, the underlying theme is still a cliche but as I mentioned earlier, when done right – it doesn’t really matter if it’s overdone.
II. Make Fun of the Cliche
Some may say that the best part of cliches are making fun of them and I agree! The term parody tends to be used for any work that imitates a writer, genre, artist (or anything and everything actually) and humorously exaggerates them. Parodies basically takes your usual story and turn it upside-down, as I like to describe them.
Some parodies include novels such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, movies like Spaceballs parodying Star Wars, music (Weird Al Yankovic anyone?), and even manga’s such as Onepunch-Man which makes fun of superheroes, Dragonball and other series.
From the examples given, some take the original work and create a parody using it as a base but on occasion, the parody remarks on other cliches found in stories such as the characters, plots, and other aspects. Whether you would like to to do one or the other is up to you but anything’s up for parody, in my opinion.
III. Learn from the Cliche (and Make Something Different)
As a consumer of everything, you probably have an innate idea of what’s been done before and you may even have already thought of ideas that break the usual mold. Unlike the other two previous points, there really isn’t much for me to say here except that you have to know what’s been done (or how else will you know that what you’re are making is original?). Immerse yourself in the field of your choice. Know your genre. Know as much as you can about the works that have been released.
Now, there are billions of us on this earth with thousands of years of human history so not everything we make is wholly unique but there is always something out there that will push that boundary be it from the writing-style, presentation, or some other aspect. And maybe it is in you to do just that!
If you can’t think of anything to write or for practice, try re-working old stories such as fairy tales. There are many things you can expand on such as – Why are there similar fairy tales across many different countries? What happens if there are multiple “Cinderella’s” at the same time and only one prince? What happens if the step-parent and sisters aren’t really all that bad but Cinderella is? What about if Snow White and Sleeping Beauty got mixed up into one story?
Whether you actually re-write a fairy tale or something completely unrelated, I believe the key to original work is to write what tickles your fancy and to always ask yourself “What if..?”
That’s Not All Folks!
I’ve been talking mainly about cliche’s in regards to story-writing but cliche’s also include characters, methods to describe the situation, similar plot-lines, and many other aspects to the story. Here are some articles you may also like to take a look at:
If you’re still stuck as to which area to start – pick the one that comes easiest to you. If you’re a natural at poking fun at people and situations, go for parodies but if you’re a beginner, maybe look into doing the tried and true and write familiar stories just to get your feet wet, so to speak. Some writer’s love to take familiar stories such as fairy tales, legends, and so on and write their own version. Why not give it a go yourself? Or, if you’re the type brimming with ideas – give that a go instead!
In the end, go with what you know, what you’re comfortable writing and what you feel most passionate about creating. Always ask yourself “What if…?” and have fun!