many of the 'hot’ books currently circulating booktok have a range of similarities between them. when writing, it can be hard to tread the fine line between using popular literary features in your novel, and creating clichés or stereotypes. to avoid clichés, you should try to:
avoid copying famous plots/sub-plots
reduce convenient plot points
minimise dramatised actions
slow down the pace in your novel
there are many popular tropes in literature that are overused, especially in the fantasy/romance genres. while they are popular for a reason, readers are quickly getting sick of finding the same plot in all of their novels.
now, this doesn't mean that you should avoid all popular tropes/sub-tropes - just simply to be selective on the combination you use in your novel. for example, does a story with magic, a boarding school, and a chosen one sound familiar? individually, there's nothing wrong with these sub-tropes, but when paired together, they've already been used in literature hundreds of times! some tropes, such as ‘the chosen one’ are even considered overused in their own right. however, they can still be used correctly! don't give up on your novel just because it has a common plot, rather just keep in mind it may be considered cliché, and try to alter smaller details to make it more unique.
when writing fiction, it's easy to line everything up to be convenient for your plot. the only issue with this is that it isn't realistic, and it's almost too easy for your readers. when writing, as a general rule you should try to limit the number of convenient plot points that are in your work - i.e. sub-plots that just fall into line.
a good way to do this is by thinking of at least one (possibly small) challenge you can add to each major event in your novel. if your character has to unlock a large dungeon, they shouldn't just be able to find the key lying around nearby. if they need to cross a river, don't have a fallen tree just coincidentally lying across it! it's important you add at least some aspect of a challenge to your novel, to prevent it from being too easy & too boring.
on the other end of the spectrum, don't make your events too dramatic! your reader shouldn't be gobsmacked everytime they finish a page. referring back to the previous page, don't make the solution to your challenge(s) too extreme. if your character has to cross a bridge, they're not going to invent a plane to fly over it - at least, they aren't likely too. it's okay to have exaggerated events like this occasionally in your novel, but they shouldn't be too often!
this can make your work cliché, due to the lack of realism. now, you might be thinking ‘oh but it's fantasy, it's not supposed to be realistic’. of course you should have magical/supernatural things in your book if that's what you would like to write, but don't include so many of them that your work becomes so unrealistic that it's overwhelming!
and lastly, it's good to take a step back from your work, and read over it with fresh eyes. often when writing, we can tend to pick up the pace of our novel without even realising it - resulting in rushed and less sincere work. when you don't take the time to consider your vocabulary choices & phrasing, you can end up with numerous clichés sneaking into your work!
while this post has covered ways to avoid writing clichés, don't be too scared about using tropes that could be a cliché! what's most important is that you write something that you enjoy, and would want to read. when you're passionate about a topic, it's easier to be sincere, and subsequently, less cliché!
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