: Re: Is it possible to turn a cliche into something original? I always try to avoid cliches as much as I can. But sometimes I just can't; they seem to be the perfect bridge between one scene

@Rambettina586

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The reason that I try to avoid cliches is because they are sometimes boring. I'm assuming that you don't purposely try to make your story boring, so my following advice fits when you hit a cliche that makes your story boring and you don't know how to get around it.

I have a few tactics that I've stolen from various sources:

Taken from the 22 Pixar rules of writing: "When you're stuck, make a list of what WOULDN'T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up."
When I get stuck, it's usually because I'm missing something from the other characters, or I haven't made them interesting enough. I'll give them random features (They're a librarian! A librarian of skeletons from a genocide!) until something sticks, that I want to write about. You did mention that you've re-written this book three times, so maybe that isn't really an option for you.
As RhysW implies, you can also look at your event as an input/output system. Can you replace your event with something else weirder that would have the same effect and same fit, but with a more interesting delivery?

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