Cliche

Imagine a person comes up to you and says he's going to write a story about a kid with a lousy life who discovers special powers. My response is, "Is your kid named Harry Potter or Carrie?" Most people are not so friendly, though. Many people will tell the writer that their story has been done a million times and to just not do it.

I see where they're coming from. There reaches a saturation point where another story in the same vein as so many others just has no power or interest anymore. And if you are just writing a big ol' cliche, you might as well save everybody's time and not write it.

However, there is an unintended side effect to this advice. Most people hear "don't write your cliche story" and they think it means "don't write anything." That is not at all what people mean. It certainly isn't what I mean. I truly mean what I say, no more, no less.

Suppose you start with a terribly cliched idea, like a lonely kid who discovers special powers. First of all, realize that Carrie and Harry Potter both have that premise and they could not be more different from each other. Second of all, consider this your first stage of puzzle solving. You have a very simple and overused plot. How do you make it interesting? How can you make it different? What hasn't been done yet? This could be very difficult for you, but if you can overcome this hurtle, it is a sure sign that you can overcome all the rest.

The overall message of the harsh warnings we get is not to stop writing. It's to get better at writing. Let's face it, boring writing is boring. If you want to write something that sounds just like every other work, you may be safe, but you will never grow. Push yourself to think harder, try harder, take risks, and get better.