: Should I use predictable plot elements? I see many similarities in films to the point where I can often guess what will happen next,even if the part was intended to be suspenseful. is that

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Use of a predictable sequence can bore your audience but can also make them feel smart. There was an article that concluded that audiences preferred knowing the story (http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/27/trailer-spoilers-southpaw). A predictable plot element is a miniature version of this. The audience knows what is going to happen ("Don't open the closet!"), still gets the thrill ("eek, it was just the cat!") and then awaits the expected conclusion ("yay, killer got her as she was walking away!"). Subverting this will challenge your audience, possibly not fulfilling their expectations.

This allows you to manipulate the audience by setting up what appears to be a predictable sequence that gets turned on its head (the film "Feast" does this repeatedly) but if not done well it can turn folks off. Obviously this is highly dependent on the genre and expected audience. A general audience film designed to appeal to the most people possible will typically eschew trope thwarting plot twists (or make the twist part of their marketing to craft expectations) while a more niche product must rely on changing up the plot in order to feel fresh and innovative.

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One of my writing professors is a fellow believer of the notion that everything is cliche. Almost everything has been done before, and redone many times over.

The question is, can you write it in a way that your characters are still unique and interesting? Lots of things can be similar, but still different, and entertaining. In comics many characters are based off one another, but are still their own characters.

Take Hawkeye, and Green Arrow for example. They both use a bow, and are both super heroes, but they aren't exactly the same. The same can be said for plots.

TL;DR There is a reason they are called tropes.

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