Cliché Stories (Got the idea from the other post)

[chopper]

i like cliches, myself. but who says they have to be written exactly as you'd expect? what if the evil warlock is just a tad misunderstood? what if the sagacious mentor is two sandwiches short of a picnic? not that i'm going to give away all my plot devices, heh, but daisybee has it right - cliches and stereotypes give you a heck of a sandbox to play in.

[Urlik]

Originally Posted by Lioness

It'd be interesting to read a story that was the complete opposite of a cliched story. I.E the hero of high birth, ugly, old, etc. All of the 'good' races ugly and malformed, all the 'bad' races extremely beautiful and seductive...

try the Elric books by Michael Moorcock
an albino who needs a preparation of rare herbs to give him the same physical strength and eyesight of a normal Melnibonean (a tall elf like race of which Elric is the Emperor)

the Melniboneans are depraved and decadent

check out his sub forum here for the best order to read the individual books

[AlexM]

Meh I've noticed quite a few books these days are being based around Dragons (I may be wrong) but can't they invent some new type of thing (In my book i got a dragon-like creature named an Avaddon) perhaps like bring something completely different in.

Though I do think it all started from Lord of the Rings, each fantasy book I think has atleast one aspect from it (despite how small it actually is).

the most overused cliché is probably a good vs evil scenario and the baddie outnumbers the good guys and in the face of hopelessness they triumph and win despite their skill or number of men.

Cheers,

Alex

[The Procrastinator]

I'm with the "its not the cliche, its the quality of the writing" camp.

Cliches are pretty much unavoidable, because its mostly been done before, and in many cases of course, done to death...but even so, its still possible to pull a good story out of the er...behind of the unknown but probably royal/noble/magical parents, the magic sword, the elves/dwarfs/dwarves, the evil overlord and so on and so forth. A skillful writer can handle the cliches adeptly enough so that they feel fresh, or at least fresh enough to enjoy the tale. One of the reasons that cliches become cliches is that something about them resonates deeply, and often these themes/character archetypes/plotlines have been kicking around for a long time, in some cases since the dawn of time. I'm not saying a story should be all cliche - of course not. That would suck, kinda like Hot Shots 2. (Brief pause to go wash out my brain)

Anyway, I think its still possible to do cliches well, after all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it - there's a reason for the appeal of some of those old ideas.

[Malloriel]

To pipe in again, inspired by The Procrastinator;

I think the reason people want to avoid the cliché so much is because of those writers who decided to rely too heavily on them. Those who felt that their presence in the story would carry it along rather than investing themselves in the spinning of a good lay.

Guess I'm not saying much I haven't already since I'm only furthering my point, but it clicked that the reason we may dislike the cliché isn't because there's something wrong with it, but because the way they've been abused by others has made us wary of using too many ourselves.

Strength in prose! Let your words carry you to your destiny! EXCELSIOR!

[The Curious Orange]

Originally Posted by Malloriel

... rather than investing themselves in the spinning of a good lay.

I must try that at some point...

[Malloriel]

LOL

As in reference to the generation of a good story :P I've always been a fan of that phrase, though.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Originally Posted by Urlik

a tall elf like race of which Elric is the Emperor ...

the Melniboneans are depraved and decadent

Traditionally (which is to say in folk tales, sagas, mythology, etc.) when humans have dealings with elves or other races it is rarely to our advantage. After all, the Fairies, the Sidhe, the Elves -- in all their numerous guises -- do not live by human rules, and while they may give in to the odd magnanimous impulse and be quite lavish in their gratitude, they can be terrifying when offended. Their loves, hates, and other passions are generally much larger in scale than ours.

An excellent interpretation of the Elves of legend is Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword. You do NOT have to rely on modern clichés in order to make use of ancient archetypes.

Even the idea that Elves have to be tall, wise, and good is based on an imperfect reading of Tolkien. Some of the Elves in the Silmarillion are proud, cruel, covetous, impulsive, obsessive, and violent. It is simply that characters like Galadriel who have survived into the era of The Lord of the Rings have benefited from some hard lessons -- as any rational person would have to do after spending tens of thousands of years watching one's friends and relations cause untold suffering.

[MetalJon]

It is almost impossible to avoid all cliches in a genre based in worlds or scenarios unlike our own, most permutations of other worlds have been written a thousand times over. What is important is how the tale is told, the depth of the characters, the intensity and pace of the story...
I guess what I'm really trying to say is - I totally agree with Malloriel and daisybee!
I've read several books which seemed cliched at first (young servant/farm lad goes off on a quest to save the world) and have been pleasantly surprised at how the story develops and how exciting and involving it becomes in the end.

[mosaix]

See this thread from the golden age of the Chrons...

List of SFF Clichés

[chrispenycate]

Sometimes, playing with clichés can be fun in itself. My dragons, for example , are as close to the 'standard' dragon as one could hope to get; Smaug could fly in there and mate with one, and they'd produce viable hatchlings.
But I don't think anyone else would produce the same story from them.