Ninjatrone: Ninja, my guess would have been Bioshock.

xcomplex: My guess might be wrong, but what on earth gave you the idea of the Matrix? Anyway, I believe I've critiqued one of your posts before, so I know you can do better than the chatspeak. And you don't have to be so defensive about your work, or this site won't be any use to you at all. The purpose of putting your manuscript up here is to get feedback, not insist that you're good enough or better than some. By all means, show us the story instead of saying that we don't know it. We'll decide for ourselves then.

And quit spamming up Scotty's thread.
Pretty please?

Originally Posted by xcomplex LOVE your cliché description. I pretty much used to like Eragon until I was like hey Im not getting the last book cause I know what’s going to happen. Like its so predictable that I don't see a reason of wasting another $40.00 on it Any who I am a fantasy writer and am SOO glad that my story doesn’t fall into the cliché pattern you described. Firstly my story takes place like 1 million years later, yet it isn't futuristic because in my story after a nuclear war mutants started roaming the planet. In fact different races of mutated humans (which I made up!). So the only real humans are underground, yet they have not much supplies yet so they have to face the horrors. Now not all the mutants are evil, yet my main character is. I’ am not giving away the end but In my local writer circle thing some people cried, at what happened. I was so happy!! Cause that means it's awesome right?? Well not for sure. I guess most said the ending is quite strong yet it wasn't the ending that made them emotional but the way I made them tied to the one character throughout the whole story. Awesome description btw!!

Fallout 3?

Copy/pasted from the wiki: Fallout 3 takes place in the year 2277, 36 years after the setting of Fallout 2 and 200 years after the nuclear war between the United States and China that devastated the game's world in an alternate post-World War II timeline.[10] The game places the player in the role of an inhabitant of Vault 101, a survival shelter designed to protect a small number of humans from the nuclear fallout. When the player character's father disappears under mysterious circumstances, he or she is forced to escape from the Vault and journey into the ruins of Washington D.C. to track him down. Along the way the player is assisted by a number of human survivors and must battle a myriad of enemies that now inhabit the area now known as the "Capital Wasteland". The game has an attribute and combat system typical of an action strategy game but also incorporates elements of first-person shooter and survival horror games.

Yikes I know miss smiley I am horrible. (shrugs and laughs)

ahh Ive looked at fallout three. Not like my plot either. The nuclear stuff is very rarely mentioned in the plot of my novel.

I just went on a mini-critiquing binge, and I feel like I've learnt something from reading more than a few cliche plots along the way.

It doesn't really occur to me that something has been overdone UNLESS the way in which it is written makes it so painfully obvious that the idea has been used somewhere before. My conclusion is that it isn't the idea that makes a story sound cliche (as we've already conceded, nearly every idea has been rehashed at least once) - it's the delivery. It's not a matter of what is written, but rather, HOW it is written that makes a difference.

was I seriously spamming?? sorry guys I didn't intend to do that lol honest! Anyways that story I cannot post because I have my publishing editor editing it for the press Anywho's I didn't mean to offend you miss smiley, I was just kidding. Anyways I still would like to say that I like the cliche description! I know every story will have cliche in it like sentances and all.. thats hard to avoid--yes!

Originally Posted by Ninjatrone The original post brings "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" to mind. That probably explains all of your archetype characters ressembling the cast of Star Wars...

Yes, I'm quite aware of Campbell's work. He's rather amazing. I bought that book recently becuase I always wanted to. This specific guide was inspired by another book which currently escapes my mind.

And wow, I didn't realize how many people still talk on this thread. How come no icon shows up saying there are new replies?

Complex: watch your grammar. Only use one "?" and one "!" when necessary.

You guys aren't spamming in my book (Technically written by me. In my head.) because I like to sit back and see you guys interpret other stories and your own and etc, etc.

I'm quite aware that real imagination is hard to come by. No doubt cliches are unavoidable; it's all a matter of utilizing archetypes. I see things as cliche when there is no originality or any effort to randomize. I highly suggest rolling the dice when you write. What if this character dies? What if this happens? What if that happens? Etc.

In short, don't think about cliches at first, because then that could lead you directly to them or just make you discouraged. BE HORRIBLE at first. Write terribly. And then look back and ask how you can change it. Then ask all the "what ifs." Of course there are going to be archetypes, so long as they are not always predictable in their actions and their thoughts.


And yes.

I should make a romance version.

Though some cliches I wrote for the fiction part can already be carried onto romance.

I absolutely hate cliches, so in my story the character finds out he is important and his dad says "Grab that pen." and the main character says " Does it transform into a weapon?", and right when it looks cliche, the dad says "No, this one just ran out of ink.What do you thinj this is, The Lightning Thief?" So I take cliches then uncliche them, and it makes the story funnier. See what I mean. Tell me your thoughts on my method.

I'm actually not sure if you can legally use the name of another book in your book.