Are You Guilty of Being Cliche? 

Look, at this point, everything you write is going to be a cliche. It seems like everything you love has been done—and better—before, leaving amateur writers left staring at their screens, wondering how they’re going to break into their favorite genre. It’s not easy! The thing is, some plot points are so overused that it’s best to keep away entirely.  

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1. Love Triangle

Oh no…two handsome men want the same woman. What’s a girl to do? (Depending on where you read your stories, any number of things could happen.) Love triangles are all well and good, but they’re pretty overdone at this point, especially if they follow the same old formula: person A and person B want perfect person C. 

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2. A Mentor’s Passing

There’s nothing more devastating than losing a loved one, and it’s even harder when they practically raised you. However, we’ve seen it a thousand times before—a mentor passes and suddenly the protagonist harnesses all their strength to defeat evil in the end. 

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3. Being the Chosen One

It can be a birthmark. It can be lineage. It can simply be because they’re the main character. But “chosen ones” are pretty overdone. Worse, they eradicate any need for real flaws, which is what makes a character interesting. 

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4. It Was All a Dream

Excuse us while we pinch our brows in frustration. You’re telling us we sat through that whole movie, read that whole book, only to find out that the whole thing was a dream? It’s the laziest plot twist, and we hate seeing it! 

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5. Damsel in Distress

Hey, hey, hey—it’s not the dark ages anymore. Women are more than capable of taking care of themselves, and in fact, giving them that autonomy can help introduce a far more interesting character.  

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