: 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.

@Cofer669

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As has been said, depth and variety can turn a cliché into something engaging.

What's interesting is the way some writers use clichés to their advantage. It happens more in television than other forms -- and it happens in ensemble cast shows more than other television. If there will be depth added in later episodes, the audience needs to get through the first hour (the pilot) without a huge amount of background. Clichés become a sort of shorthand for introducing characters and even plot elements.

The spoiled rich girl may have deeper layers to her, but in the early part of the story she's only needed as a comic annoyance when paired against the hero. She may come off as a cliché at first, to be given depth when her part of the story comes along.

Hank, the drunk burn-out cop mentioned by gmoore, may not become a "real character" until the reader has accepted him as a cliché and moved on.

The most skillful writer will introduce a quirk or two for every character so that even secondary characters never seem like clichés.

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