You're Better Than That. Avoiding Clichés in Your Characters and Plot Devices

’Ello, loves! We’re back for the final Stay-Away-from-Cliché-Installment. We’ve covered phrases and idioms, overused gestures and descriptions. Today we bring you… 

Story and character clichés.

You can’t come up with a truly unique plot, because only ten exist (depending on whose list of tropes you use). But you can put a unique spin on the pieces of the puzzle. 

First, character clichés. Stay away from stereotypes in general, but there are several character clichés that creep into otherwise good stories. Watch out for these guys when you're crafting your main characters. (If you want to write REALLY well, keep them out of your supporting cast too).

You know who I mean: 

•  The Big Oaf

• The Cheerleader/Athlete

• The Warrior Princess

• The New Girl

• The Bad Boy

• The Geek

• The Sage

• The Chauvinist

• The Mustache-Twirling Villain

• The list goes on…

If you want to use a variation on any of these characters, give them a paradoxical quality. Otherwise, they’re about as interesting as…anything you’ve already seen a million times before. 

Surprise people. 

I saw a novel once about a narcoleptic detective. What the what? 

There’s NOTHING cliché about that possibility. 

Take the normal, and brainstorm like mad.

• Gregory House, MD. The brilliant medical-puzzle-solver...and egocentric drug addict.

• Jason Bourne. Robert Ludlum’s CIA-programmed black-ops human weapon who is capable of love and regret.

• Valkyrie. Steven James’s villain genius who values both “the game” and the sanctity of life.

• Ron Swanson. The steak-devouring man’s man who hates the government but works a government job—and who’s as loyal a friend as you could ever need.

• Samwise Gamgee. A quiet gardener and trustworthy friend with more courage and faith than Sauron sees coming.

• Miss Skeeter. Kathryn Stockett’s spunky red-headed writer who cares more about befriending the help than finding a husband in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi.

• Abbey Sciuto. Ridiculously kind and naïve Goth who lives with nuns, sleeps in a coffin, and is both artistic and science-minded.

• Rogue. X-Men’s compassionate and insecure mutant who has the power to suck life from anyone.

• Bones (Temperance Brennan). Brilliant, socially awkward, intensely rational FBI consultant, majorly lacking people skills--but close with her co-workers and capable of strong emotional connection.

• Angela. Christopher Paolini’s quirky herbalist who follows no one’s rules but her own and is FAR more important than anyone thinks. With a weapon cache Chuck Norris would envy.

Let’s go in a different direction now. There are plot devices that have become cliché, too. They pop up all over, but they honestly amount to lazy writing. You’ll recognize them, I’m sure.

• The moment of waking. Sure, your main character will have to wake up sometimes (every morning, no doubt), but don’t feel like you need us to begin every day with her. And if you can, have her wake up in a different setting. Once or two "wake-ups" are more than enough. Choose wisely.

• Introspection while looking in the mirror. I get it. I do. What better moment for your character to take stock of her life? I mean, if she’s already scrutinizing her outward self, why not gaze into the depths of her own soul and analyze who she’s become? (Easy answer: Because someone has to stop the madness.) Let her pick up an old photo or a keepsake. Or use dialogue to trigger her inward journey.

• It was all a dream. Please. Just, no. ESPECIALLY not in the first chapter. Your readers will feel like they've been lied to …because they have. The characters, the world, the motivations—everything they’ve latched onto wasn’t even the real story. You can occasionally use a dream sequence later in the novel, but do it well, and for the Pete of Sake, make it worthwhile.

•  Literally bumping into the love interest. He, of course, helps pick up the items she dropped in the debacle. Your couple-to-be can meet a million other ways. Be creative.

• Finding a bomb with only seconds to spare. As soon as you read this, you're picturing the big, red, digital numbers showing the countdown. Am I right? Whether the bomb gets defused or everyone dives for cover, it's been done so many times that even Bruce Willis would have a hard time making it unique. (Which makes me wonder, how many times has he acted this scenario out?) Maybe that also explains why I gave up on his movies long ago. Too much the same...

•  The prologue. It used to be new and intriguing. A hint of back story in the beginning. These days, it's rarely necessary. Ask yourself whether you can weave in the same details bit by bit as the story progresses. If you can, then the prologue is just lazy. If there is no other way to make the audience aware of something crucial, then go for it. Perhaps a character who has no other POV opportunity wants a moment to speak.

• Flashback. Remember what I said about the prologue? Same deal. Weave in what you can organically, using dialogue, deep POV, or internal thought. And if you must, make sure your transitions to and from are clear and un-clunkified.*

*New word for the day.

You want to be a writer. You ARE a writer. Have fun coming up with your OWN nuances, gestures, and descriptions. Be creative. 

We do this because we love words, right? So even when it's daunting, tackle it. Sculpt your words into a work of art.

This week, we've got another free-edit contest--but this time I'm the one doing the editing. Anyone who comments with another character or plot cliché will be entered to win a five-page edit! 

Looking forward to hearing from you! Thanks for swinging by.

 
                           Thanks to Rileyroxx and Jusben for the pics.

Going Deeper with Deep POV (& a free edit)

What's up, reader/writer types? 

Today, you've got a chance to win a free five-page edit! All you've got to do is comment below the post with two of your own examples. Examples of what you ask? Shallow and deep POV, of course.

Let's talk about deepening your point of view. This is one of the best ways to take your characters from cardboard to jump-off-the-page real. If you'll recall, my (and Gibbs's) Rule #1 is no head hopping. When you write a scene in just one POV, it's like you have tunnel vision. You see (hear, feel, smell, and taste) only what that character experiences. It's as though you've put one of those helmets with a camera attached on their head, so we see exactly what they see.

But that's just POV. If you want to go deep (and trust me, you do), there's so much more than the five senses. There are thoughts, feelings, emotions. Beyond just describing the setting and telling us what the character feels, you can show us. 

This is Rule #2. Show. Don't tell. A great indication that you're showing (and therefore in shallow POV) is when you're using variations of those five sense words: 

• Leo saw a baby fox streak across the road.
• I heard the tires screech as the car turned the corner.
• The chips tasted salty.
• She could smell fall in the air.
• The sweater felt like a warm hug.

Or the sneaky weasel . . .

• I thought he was lying.

Most of the time, it's easy to get rid of these. You can simply delete them. If we're in Leo's POV, and he tells us "the fox streaked across the road," we know he saw it.

If I say, "the tires screeched," guess what. I heard it.

You could even say "the chips were salty," although that's a little dull and tell-y. Better would be, "The salty chips stung my lips."

"The crisp smell of fall hung in the air."

"The sweater clung to me like a warm hug." 

"His shifty eyes told me he was lying."

The second part of this is emotion--the characters' feelings. Don't TELL me they're sad. SHOW me what it feels like to be sad, and PLEASE don't just show them crying. There are so many more original ways to show sadness. Throat burning, chest constricting, eyes stinging. Do they retreat to a special place where they can be alone? Eat their feelings? Call a friend? Bury themselves under the covers for three days?

A GREAT resource for this is The Emotion Thesaurus. You can look up any emotion, and the thesaurus will give you a bajillion examples of physical responses to that emotion. Seriously, if you don't own this, and you write fiction, please buy a copy now. We don't make recommendations like this lightly. Both of us own a copy.

What else? When you write, each POV character should have his or her own voice. The reader should be able to tell within the first paragraph, even the first sentence, exactly whose head they are in. We should be privy to the character's innermost thoughts and experience the story world exactly as they do. A man's thoughts and inner dialogue should not sound like a teenage girl's. Give your characters unique quirks.

Have you ever read a book and felt like the characters stepped out of the pages and sat down next to you to tell you their story? Deep POV creates characters the reader can identify with, laugh with, and cry with.

Don't settle for cardboard cut outs. Don't just skim the surface. Dig down deep, and give your characters life and breath.

Now it's your turn. Give me an example of shallow and deep POV in the comments below. And I'll choose one commenter at random and do a FREE FIVE PAGE EDIT. Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win. And feel free to share, please! Especially if you've got writing friends who could benefit from this win.)

Good luck, and go deep!

Casting Your Characters--And Avoiding Emoticons

Everybody wants something. Why do YOU want to write, for example?

Maybe you want to write a book for the story’s sake. A vociferous, misunderstood character started vying for your mental attention and enthralled you with his antics. He gets under your skin in all the right ways, and he’s an entertaining guy. You don’t want the world to miss out.

Maybe you like to challenge people. You’re on a metaphorical soapbox, and—rather than flat out preaching at the masses—allegory would be a better, wiser venue for your message. It’s time people question the status quo. Or act on their convictions. Your story will call them on that.

Or maybe you want to be rich and famous. You fancy yourself the next J.K. Rowling or Frank Peretti. (NOTE: If this is your motivation, you’re in the wrong field. There’s an easier road you should travel, somewhere.)

I know there are scads of other reasons people write. But the point is: something drives you.

Something’s got to drive your characters, too. 

And I don’t mean only your main characters.  Would you want to watch a play—no matter the genre—where only the protagonist and the antagonist were played by humans? Everyone else was a cardboard cutout?

(NOTE: Even though there are no other humans pictured below, I am NOT saying The Doctor interacts with a bunch of emoticons-on-sticks. Far from it. I simply couldn't resist using THESE particular cardboard cutouts when I spotted them.)

Too often, I read books in which the cast may as well be made up of emoticons on sticks. The MC wanders over near the smiling cut out when he needs encouragement and hangs out with the stereotypical thug when he feels dangerous. He can’t bum a cigarette, though, because there’s just the one. Permanently in Dude’s hand. You’d have to cut his hand off to get rid of that thing.

As Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. said, 

every.

single.

character.

should want something—

even if all he wants is a glass of water.

Surround your main characters with a cast of characters who are also each desperate for something, determined to change something. To achieve something. 

To defuse the bomb. 

To hear their father say he’s proud of them. 

To find the cure. 

To get her to say Yes.

Give them motives and goals, and SHOW your readers what they’re after.

For truly multi-dimensional characters, give them motivations that might surprise the readers. Show a soft side or a deep-seated fear in the heart of the bad guy. Maybe you’ve got a selfless and thoughtful protag, but there’s one thing she absolutely cannot STAND. Show it to us.

Okay, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Flat Out Love, by Jessica Park. If you've read this book, you know what I'm about to say. (If you haven't...) There actually WAS a cardboard cut out character--an enthralling one, I might add--Flat Finn. Talk about a quirky cast, all flawed and winsome!

But what about other favorite books? Don’t you love reading a novel that makes you want a sequel—where your favorite minor character gets to play lead? Even if there's NOT a sequel? I love dreaming about what could be.

How about Veronica Roth’s Divergent Trilogy? Four anyone? Okay, so I know he's not a minor character, but he hasn't been a POV character...YET. (ALLEGIANT!) Veronica Roth has written a short story from his POV, which is an amazing way to market and build interest in your books! Christina, Eric, and Caleb also filled my mind with questions.

Ally Condie’s Matched Trilogy? I wanted more of Xander and Indie.

Ronie Kendig’s Rapid Fire Fiction. This may be one of Ronie’s greatest areas of giftedness. She’s made me crave another SERIES. And then delivered. (Well, she will in May 2014 anyway.)

Dani Pettrey’s Alaskan Courage series. Dani’s great and getting you intrigued about all of the McKenna family members—especially the star of the next one.

Susan Kaye Quinn’s Mindjack Trilogy. Raf. And Xander. And Seamus. Anyone else?

Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle. Can I get an Aw, yeah for Roran? What about Angela? I'd have loved a prequel about Brom.

All of these books left me wanting more. And got me to immediately follow the authors on Twitter and Facebook. Marketing genius, writers. 

Writing genius.

Who is the most intriguing minor character YOU’VE read recently? What was it that got to you?

Thanks to Richard Anderson for the flickr photo. http://ow.ly/p0jGk