: Re: Are some ideas too cliched? So I was thinking, and I've been wondering if some ideas are so overused readers don't get the 'thrill' of reading them anymore. I'm really into last-man-standing

@Shakeerah107

Vote Up Vote Down

I don't think so.

The hunger games surely weren't the first novel with this theme (there was battle royale, for example) but it works and people love it.

Don't be afraid of overused ideas, because common themes are everywhere anyway, instead, try to make your book stand out because of the details, of the characters, the conflicts, etc.

For example (and now i will go into a topic that is separated from books, but serve to tell a story nonetheless) the anime and game Danganronpa follows the guidelines for a "Last man standing" story completely. A bunch of teenagers, trapped in a place, where they can only escape if they kill each other, pretty standard.

It stands out in the small things, to the point where i believe it to be one of the best stories in this genre. I can't go on detail on How it does it, both because of spoilers and because it would deviate from the theme of the question, but let me summarize:

INTERESTING CHARACTERS

For a story with this concept ALL of the character must be interesting, no exception. Be it Katniss with her bow, Kazuo (from battle royale) with his UZI (and overall badassery), or Gundham (from Danganronpa) with his oddities, The characters must be memorable, because when an interesting character dies, that's when it stings, and these are all stories about characters dying.

TL;DR

the 3 stories cited above have almost the EXACT SAME THEME, yet they are uniquely amazing in their own ways, but most importantly, through well built, memorable, and likeable characters

(0)

Login to post a comment!