: Re: How To Avoid Using Cliches In Storylines? How is it possible to avoid cliches in storylines that you are writing? Obviously, there are external sources of influences as you read more and more.

@Gloria285

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Layered, nuanced characters and depth of story will help you avoid cliches.

Look, we're all writing a lot of the same stuff. Good guys, bad guys, boy meets girl, she gets kidnapped, blah blah blah.

Cliche's arise when:
1) the characters behave in a certain way without the proper background.
2) They only behave this certain way

Hank, the grizzled veteran cop who is a drunk and is just waiting to get his twenty years so he can retire... that is right out of the cliche book. But, if your story outlines why Hank is the way he is, and also gives him more dimension, then Hank is no longer a cliche. Hank becomes a real character. Making Hank a drunk cop is great, but maybe he's into racquetball or model trains or something. Nobody in life is just one way. Your characters shouldn't be either. If you can make Hank's recreational racquetball somehow figure into the story so that Hank can overcome his obstacles and save the day, well, good times!

On the flip side, you can't go giving every character extensive background intros and laundry lists of interests. This is the art, finding the middle ground between shallow characters and boring your reader to death. The best do it so well that you don't even notice. The worst, well, I'm sure you can think of some examples.

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