: Trying to avoid being cliché Has opening a story with something like "I hurtled to my death", "I had destroyed the earth", or other outlandish statements like these become cliché? And if so,

Vote Up Vote Down

You want to start a tale with an outlandish statement? Go ahead. Just listen to your heart, write and complete it. Now, if the whole story feels 'unoriginal', then you can make some changes. Write first, then rewrite and rewrite until you are satisfied.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

Depending on the tone of your book, you can make that work for you by making subsequent text sarcastic, funny, meta, or the intro to a flashback.

I had destroyed the earth. Okay, it was just a bit of dirt in a test tube. And I didn't really destroy it; I just washed it down the drain. Fine, I was cleaning up after my lab partner. Yes, she ditched me. Again.

I hurtled to my death. This one would probably hurt a bit more than the last three; Reichenbach Falls was taller than the roof of the hospital. Still, there was nothing for it but to wait until I hit, regenerated, and woke up at the beginning of the next story. What pastiche writers lacked in originality they certainly made up for in persistence.

I had destroyed the earth. At last. A ragged cheer rose from the survivors behind me, growing and swelling until the air was so thick with hosannas and applause and shouts of relief that I thought I might go deaf. And if you think that sounds strange, you should hear how I got here.

"I have destroyed the earth! And now I will go on to wipe out the sun! And the —" Gorbo's ranting was cut short by a quick blast from Captain Amazing's laser pistol. "I hate it when they brag," she grumbled.

And so on. If you can't rewrite the cliché, subvert it.

(0)