Cliché Plot Tropes to Avoid

[@imabodybuilder]

When I was a kid I thought long-lost twins, amnesia, and quicksand were commonplace things to worry about. And I never kept a diary for fear of someone discovering it! Perhaps writers of old television shows should have watched this video.

[@Jack-kx5rf]

Well long lost siblings is quite common. Even weirder is that most of them will smash or even marry unknowingly.

[@coreya603]

I don’t have any of these in my book, but I really like how you offer alternatives where the author can still accomplish the same thing, but with a bit more originality. Great video!

[@AlyssaMatesic]

That's always the goal! Thanks for commenting 😀

[@johnpauldagondong2720]

2:09 in the Philippines, we have a classic soap opera called Mara Clara, aired weekdays from 1992 - 1997, where two babies were switched at birth and that secret diary would be the grand reveal of everything. mind u, it took almost a year for the characters to find that diary. all the time it was hidden at the top of a TV hahaha.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Wow, that's crazy! Sometimes a cliche trope can work well when the genre demands a dramatic twist, like a soap opera! Thanks for sharing :)

[@christyaustin904]

Well, I only had one on the list, lol. Thank you for providing a list of alternatives to make these better!

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Haha, I'm glad it helped!

[@victorbryan5482]

lol now u leave us wondering which you had.

[@ClockworkMan13]

In regard to secret twins: The fact that twins are rare would actually make them more noticeable thus unlikely to be a secret.

[@sahandnasiri3185]

Not all twins look alike

[@annaconsta]

I agree with your advice, but have twisted feelings about the amnesia clichee. I, for one, love it, when it happens to a character I am curious about. Here's why. Amnesia lets you explore the true nature of a character. With amnesia, they are stripped of social conditioning and any manipulation which they have most probably been subject to (everyone is). Amnesia gives you insight in the core of a character.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

It definitely can be used effectively! It all depends on how the writer approaches it, and whether or not they are bringing anything new to the trope. Thanks for sharing your insight :)

[@samp4050]

😅 I have a character who undergoes a personality change, which brings a bit of laughter to their loved ones.

[@VenturesAdventure]

You have provided a good guideline. Thank you, Alyssa.

[@soccerguy325]

Off topic but I love your dog Alyssa! Also how they curled up perfectly behind you to hide from the camera. So cute!

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Haha yes! My dogs appreciate the love 😁

[@danielkelley7548]

PLOT TWIST: she doesn't own a dog.

[@katsmenagerie106]

I don't know if it's exactly a plot trope, but when a character stands in front of a mirror (alone) and methodically describes their features. If those features are important, have them complain to their best friend about their freckles, or have them look at a picture of their grandpa and remember him fondly but be embarrassed that they got his nose. It's not that the way a character looks isn't important, but that when it comes up organically, those looks become a part of the character. But straight description doesn't forward the plot or make the character inherently more interesting/likeable. Plus it's just been so overused across all genres, from YA to fantasy. (It's usually accompanied by a supportive but overly flirtatious best friend, and two love interests who tell the main that they're beautiful and unique.)

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Yes, this is another huge cliche!

[@akeelahbruce1821]

This was a comment I made when I first heard of the mirror scene. Later, I actually understood what they meant, but I agree with yours... cause that's exactly how I'd write it. So onward with the comment like my protagonist on the brink of death notices the cracked mirror and their shards, one that was possibly lodged in their throat and was making it quite hard to breathe. They described whatever part of their appearance that could be identified in the wrecked mirror. Maybe their stained attire? Their flesh? Things that are absolutely hurting in that moment. Maybe you'll want to add characterization and have them full out panicking. Not much for the fact that they are bleeding out, or their killer is standing right in front of them, but because their face looks horrible. Their outfit that cost so much is now in ruins. That their reputation was ruined by the person who is standing in front of them. I guess now they actually pay attention to the person who killed them. And you might want to add some more characterization and have them pathetically described whatever defining feature they can see (but they are slowly loosing vision from the pain and bloodloss) and yet still raising their appearance upwards. Maybe they knew the killer. Then, you can hint at their relation through some actions. All this can be shared and exposed through the broken shards, through the mirror scene.... ...yeah

[@joemoultrie8118]

Very captivating in your presentation.I hung on to your every word til the end.I found myself going into a sidebar trance while watching,and quite a few of my plot ideas came to the forefront of my minds eye that need to be called into question.Will definitely be following your content as an aspiring writer.GREAT content,Alyssa!

[@jasonhobbs2405]

I love your videos! I love when I see a cliche done so well that it is not cliche. Rare but priceless. Of course, I don’t have the skill to pull that off, myself.

[@markjohansen6048]

Another one: when the her is problem could be solved in two.paragraphs if he just did the obvious thing. I've read many books and watched many movies where I just want to yell at the character, why don't you just call the police? Or, why don't you just tell her you love her? And you know that the reason why they don't is because then the problem would be solved and the story would be two pages long. Especially considering, with an ounce of creativity the writer could make the obvious solution not work. Like, the hero calls the police, the policeman comes ... And it turns out he's been paid off by the criminals. Etc.

[@ArtAnimeEmerly]

Very interesting video. I think most of these can work if done well but are rarely done well. One of the most interesting books I've read used the secret twin reveal but it was done in a way that made you want to reread the whole book to see all the hints that were dropped in from the start

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Well said! Do you remember the name of the book?

[@ArtAnimeEmerly]

@@AlyssaMatesic It's Kate Atkinson's debut novel Behind the Scenes at the Museum. An exceptionally well done story that I'd highly recommend to anyone who hasn't read it. I've written stories for as long as I can remember but I think it was reading this book as a teenager that made me see storytelling as a craft you can master, and made me want to publish a book one day (with any luck this will be the year!)

[@susiepam2716]

The plot of The Parent Trap was borrowed from the children's book "Lottie and Lisa" by Erich Kastner, the marvelous German children's author.

[@Riprake]

A lot of these tropes aren't so much cliches as they are cop-outs or lazy writing. The "surprise twin" trope, for instance, is an easy fix that often came up in old pulps and serials when mystery writers found they'd written themselves into a corner: e.g. in an old black-and-white live-action Batman serial, the culprit in one of the detective cases Batman cracks turns out to be the heretofore unknown and never-mentioned evil twin brother the prime suspect never knew he had. They'd already shown the character's actor committing the crimes on-screen, you see, so the writers couldn't exactly pretend anyone else was guilty unless it was someone played by the same actor. Secret diaries and unexpected pregnancies are likewise more lazy writing than anything else: in this case, lazy in the sense of writers assuming society has been in stasis for decades at a time. Diaries in general aren't as common as they used to be, and as you point out, anyone who does write a secret diary these days typically does so electronically and locks it away behind passwords and layers of encryption. As for surprise pregnancies, about the only people surprised to discover that having sex will get them pregnant these days are the uneducated and misinformed; i.e. mostly teenagers with bad parents and/or bad teachers. For a meticulous writer, every one of these tropes can work just fine as long as one knows how to work with them realistically, e.g.: 1. A character hacks into another character's computer looking for something like that secret diary. 2. A gal has (so far as she knows) never had sex, but ends up pregnant anyway; how did *that* happen? 3. A police detective deliberately "lets something slip" in order to flush out a culprit. 4. The story more or less begins with a character meeting his/her long lost twin (as in The Parent Trap). 5. Someone quite deliberately got the character drunk and/or hit him on the head to ensure his memory of a certain incident would be faulty and his testimony would be legally unreliable in court.

[@clintoreilly]

Great insight. Thanks, Alyssa. Also, ...like what you did with your hair. It's pretty. I hope I'm not being inappropriate :)

[@user-mf1rz9mn3l]

When you said the unexpected twin, it reminded me of Wilkie collins! When he did it it wasn’t a trope lol, he was the first one to write a thriller!

[@andeeharry]

Amnesia..it worked in the Borne series anyway....and finding the diary works well in loads of stories.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

These tropes can definitely be executed well! But they can also be executed in overused ways; it's all up to how the author introduces these tropes. Thanks for sharing!

[@tylerzechar]

So Tom Riddle’s Diary was a cliche and a horcrux at the same time wow

[@sahandnasiri3185]

Its matter how to use not what to use

[@elizabethstump4077]

My book does have an unexpected pregnancy, but this one comes as a result of the protagonist going on antibiotics, but unaware it reduces the effectiveness of her birth control, but her boyfriend was already preparing to propose when she discovers this. It just hastens the wedding.

[@whitneylivingston5706]

I have a set of identical twins in my manuscript, but they are about 2,000 years apart and only two people even know and the reader will probably never find out, it’s not really a plot twist, just a really cool piece of background information if the reader is smart enough to figure it out but you aren’t missing anything in the story if you don’t.

[@onthursday1599]

Sounds like a good read!

[@juju10683]

She described the plot of Memento and several other Christopher Nolan movies

[@Jacobenz]

Something that feels very overdone in lots of narratives is fake-out deaths. I'm reading a book where a character has died twice, now he's back again. It's a really good story, but is it too much to ask that dead people stay dead?

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Haha yes, that's another cliche plot trope at this point! Thanks for sharing!

[@sahandnasiri3185]

Laughs in SUPERNATURAL

[@danielleraso5419]

I do use the pregnancy one sort of but i am super careful because as a reader, it drives me absolutely bonkers when a character does something that might lead to pregnancy and doesnt constantly worry about that possibility. ESPECIALLY if its a nervous/anxious character

[@jkseraphim4]

I like the pregnancy trope. The novel I wrote is pregnant but it's from a married man and in the first chapter it's revealed.

[@johndavenport8843]

I appreciate your videos and have reviewed them with pleasure. Until today. Okay, it was pleasurable but the Diary threw me because I use that to reveal a history of a dead person. It is minimal but would you say a diary or journal is a total no-go. My story is set before computers. Thanks

[@kevind.miller5159]

Love your videos Alyssa and appreciate you sharing your expert knowledge with us writers. It's been very enlightening and helpful. Also, just an observation here, I see a lot of writers use the word cliché as an adjective. I was always taught that cliché is a noun. The word 'trite' should be used for the adjective, e.g. "Trite Plot Tropes to Avoid". Thoughts?

[@griannaashwood6394]

Fraternal twins occur twice as often as identical twins.

[@markjohansen6048]

Another that annoys me: convenient coincidences. My wife was just watching a movie where bad weather force s the hero's plane to make an unplanned lading. And not only does the city where he lands just happen to be the city where his long lost girlfriend is now living, but he decides to get lunch at a restaurant where she just happens to be eating. In the same movie, at one point were told that the hero's mother isn't his real mother his real mother is ... The woman we thought was the girlfriends mother, and she s really adopted. Etc. A story can be built around one amazing coincidence, if the whole point of the story is, wow, what are the odds against this. But when you just toss coincidence after coincidence in to keep the story moving, you lose credibility.

[@admiral_red_shirt]

I used a lost childhood memory to hide an identity of the adult MC who would've otherwise known the side character right away. The lost time was a part of a childhood trauma and lost memories is a pretty common result of trauma like molestation and rape. That plus ten years between meetings keeps the character identity a temporary secret.

[@jankyfluffy898]

Ha, I use a secret diary and never thought of having anyone find it. Amnesia is not like it is in real life. Most people lose their skills. I've made fun of this in one of my upcoming novels.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Haha, poking fun at a cliche plot trope is a great way to keep it fresh!

[@jankyfluffy898]

@@AlyssaMatesic thanks for the reply.

[@ScottyDMcom]

_The Parent Trap_ didn't suck because the twins reveal came very early in the story, and there was a good explanation for it. If the girls had known of each other, but had never met, that would have saved about 3 minutes of screen time (denial, realization, acceptance), but wouldn't have otherwise affected the plot. Using coincidence as a plot device is evil--it smacks of _deus-ex-machina._ While _deus-ex-machina_ was a standard plot device in classical Greek theater 2,500 years ago, it has gone out of favor. The real evil is using coincidence at the end to aid the protagonist. However, it's okay to use it early, perhaps even as the inciting incident, as was done in _The Parent Trap._ There would have been no story to tell if the girls had not met each other. Rule of thumb: You may have one happy coincidence in your story, but only if it comes early (first half of Act I). For my current work-in-progress I don't believe I have any coincidences.

[@Unepagedecafé]

If I understand well, try to avoid elements that appear "randomly"( like BAM! Car accident! BAM! Secret Diary! BAM! Cancer!) only to make something happens. Instead, we could leave a little hint that wouldn't draw too much attention in the previous chapters but will be playing a key role later, so that the readers will eventually find out that the "root of the evil" has been already planted without they knowing it.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Yes, well summarized!

[@danieljackson654]

Very helpful.

[@akeelahbruce1821]

Ooh, about the secret diary, i had changed it into a scanvenger hunt. Well, my character changed it to a scavenger hunt. Cause she realized that she was going to die soon and wouldn't be there for her child, so she decided that instead of gifting her daughter her diary that she might not have a connection. She can create a scavenger hunt that would last 18 years. The same exact age she died. Yeah, the mom died as the after effect of teenage pregnancy, and it made sense since she hasn't the healthiest when alive. But she believes that by changing some heartfelt letters into a memory that could last her lifetime, it can show her daughter more of her personality and how she used to be, as well as the rewards was always somwthing that she hold dear. And every year was insipired by her diary. Maybe i explained it too roughly, but I really think that method really shows a type of bond between mother and daughter, even tho the mother had already passed on. And you may be wondering how in the world it would last 18 years. There's some third party involved who are preseving the areas, (plus the mom has powers so she encased it with her powers, it doesn't suddenly stop when she dies) I think it's a nice and fun way to subvert the cliché and sorry if it sounds blocky now, still in the middle of my first draft. This is a side-plot that'll get its own plot in the second book.

[@akeelahbruce1821]

I guess I still used it as the secret love letters between the mom and the dad that doesn't know he's a father. Although it's messily implied. But I wouldn't use it as a plot device but as a realization for the dad.

[@brigittegerlach]

Hmmm. How do you feel about playing with tropes by twisting them around? Like the future Varg-rider in a fantasy novel being no cannonfodder, but the good one? Or a healer being asked to terminate an unwanted pregnancy while she is desperatly longing for an own child? Or a diary but with a gost attached...in a mediaval world of course...

[@bilalrashad6636]

The worst cliche trope is when a character is supposed to be dead but they show up in the end

[@rowan7929]

Good thing I never thought of anything like this. As I don't like them either.

[@lewis7315]

the thing that most annoys me is that only one version of English is acceptable to these literary elite... How "normal" people think speak write is not acceptable to these English majors book editors, publishers... noting that there are an almost unlimited number of regional versians of the English language. have you tried to talk to someone grom the English Caribbean for example? I got so annoyed frustrated by my local writers and editors guild snotty elitest arrogant attitude that I have basically left the group... Who died and left this group in charge anyway ???

[@anthonyphan702]

I submit this one because I just barely put it in the work that I'm writing: a text message thread for the sake of speeding through tedious dialogue and description. Even though the medium of text messaging is somewhat important to the story, I would be lying to say I didn't appreciate being able to breeze through a bunch of here-to-there expository in 140 characters or less.

[@JerrySchultzAuthor]

Benny Shepherd gets beat up at school and his jacket is ripped. Because his family is poor, he goes out to the shed where the boxes of his older brother's stuff have been stacked for 10 years to look for a jacket he can wear. He finds the THE DIARY OF DANIEL SHEPHERD in a box of his brother's keepsakes and follows clues from Daniel's memoirs to solve a decade old mystery.

[@joevaldez6457]

Wow. Not only do you state why these are tropes, but why they take the reader out of a story and what to use instead. I agree that police revealing sensitive information during interrogations is tactical and designed to overwhelm the suspect. There, it is totally appropriate. However, if the detective is on a blind date or throwing a football with his son, not appropriate. Great distinction. Were you a cop before you were a book editor, Alyssa?

[@sarahhodge5738]

I write fantasy, and it has its own set of clichés and tropes, most of which I adore. I have totally used the secret diary, but the writer of the diary was dead by the time the main character stumbles upon it.

[@aaronmcculloch8326]

Oh Someone just watched glass onion! I think all these tropes were there, in this order!

[@jameshansen7108]

Admittedly, I panicked a bit when I heard that one on this list came up (the diary), but the way it was used in my book was a bit different, so I was a bit more relieved after that.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

That's great! It's always good to keep in mind that there is always an effective way to use any technique so that it's fresh to reader. It's only when the same exact trope and set-up is used that it becomes "cliche."

[@mrplatink]

Every time I get to this "avoid" videos....I'm cringing, just waiting to be guilty of using one or two...or all of them! lol This time? kinda three? Time for some super edits!

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Best of luck!

[@ursalaminor8457]

"High above, in the stormy sky, a bird with buffeted birdy bones bats ahead, beak to the nose of the wind--shrouds of gray rain fall Awe-ing and slanting to our crystal--It is the sky, the void, that no fist could form in and hold any part of--Below on the stain of earth, where we all, human brothers and sisters, pop like flower after flower from the fecund same joke of unstymied pregnant earth and raise standard-bearers or fertility and ego personality, life, below the blown shrodes and woe-bo black clouds June is handing down form some whoreson unseasonal storm, patches of brown and yellow and black show where we live, chimneys are pouring black smoke---"The chimneys of the World!"--And we are angels revisiting it---Coming far, sad, wide, the world, the earth, this pot, this place, this parturience-organizer--There are the chimney smokes fuming up and pouring and defiling open space, and there the cracks, tracks, cities, dead cats floating in rivers, calendars on the wall indicating June,,,"---Jack Kerouac/Visions of Gerard

[@azcoder]

Bethesda studios is obsessed with leaving diaries everywhere in their games (like Skyrim). I know we're talking about book writing here, but it's so hilarious I had to mention it.

[@ken-shenryuinternational1024]

I have two sets of twins in my current WIP, but it is no surprise. One set of twins are the grandsons of one of the other set. About the “secret diary,” the grandmother twin leaves a journal to one of her grandsons as part of her will and it sets them on a path to explore family histories. My question is does this count as a “secret diary” since they were unaware of it until her death? My thinking is no, because she intentionally left it to the grandson she knew would read it.

[@Eprosis]

Oh no, I have the secret diary in my book. My main character inherits a dead family member's home and finds a diary. I think I'll need to rethink how the information is found.

[@ComicPower]

Thank God my story had none of these cliches. And oh yeah amnesia. Definitely overdone cheap trick. Lol.

[@briansimerl4014]

Are these novel tropes to avoid or soap opera tropes to avoid? I didn't realize what a huge experiential overlap the two genres had these days.

[@DrakeEastwood]

everything just comes naturally to me somehow. I'm a natural.

[@keouine]

These cliches need not offend in comic genres since plausibility is not as important.

[@AuroraAuraHealing]

I have a question that I would be interested in hearing your advice on - how should an author decide whether to self publish or try to go the traditional route?

[@AlyssaMatesic]

That is a good question! I have a video going over the differences and my thoughts on them here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXSuimWLjtuEa8U

[@Jacobenz]

Interested in your thoughts: I have twins at the beginning of my WIP fantasy novel. They are secretly not twins. They look very different which is mentioned a few times. I wonder if that is overused or eye roll inducing. I have a plan for a surprise pregnancy (not written yet), but it's across humanoids that look very different. I'm hoping readers don't assume they can produce children since they assume they're very different species. Should I avoid this?

[@AlyssaMatesic]

The concept of fraternal twins is not inherently cliche, but rather how they are used and introduced--if they discover each other after not knowing for years and years in a dramatic fashion, that is definitely cliche and overused. It's all in how you set up your characters! Best of luck!

[@lilboi4694]

i agree

[@justbooks7740]

Can i query for two novels at a same time to same agents? Or different agents?

[@AlyssaMatesic]

You can query for two novels at a time, but I would recommend avoiding sending them both to the same agent--they might think you are unsure about which project you are working on!

[@alukew10]

Yoa're so beauty! I'mam going to right a book and i want uou to edit please!

[@jeffholman2234]

I hate the word 'trope'. Its basically telling every reader that their favorite books and topics are to be shamed. I loved reading before i started writing. I wrote about what i liked to read. Now i feel like shit cause my favorites are a cliché trope that literally agents basically shit on. That being said, this isnt directed at Alyssa Matesics video. I love her videos. They are more helpful than any youtuber ive watched.

[@ShogunOrta]

So, just no soap opera stuff.

[@90skid88]

6:22 you just used a cliché lol 😅

[@nelhed3587]

Video starts at 1:57 way too much fluff at the start

[@bubble8829]

Can we please return to using cliché as a noun, and clichéd as the adjective? The word comes from the French verb, clicher (to stereotype). In French, verbs and adjectives usually agree with their nouns. In English, we have the word revise, from the French reviser. Past participle / adjective in French is revisé for a masculine noun and revisée for a feminine noun. In English, the past participle / adjective is revised, not revisé. * Modify (from French modifier) - past participle /adejective in English is modified, not modifié * Realise (from French realiser) - past participle / adjective in English is realised, not realisé * Attach (from the French attacher) - past participle / adjective in English is attached, not attaché * Envisage (from the French envisager) - past participle / adjective in English is envisaged, not envisagé * Etcetera So why have we become grammar clowns with the word cliché?

[@TheSlickmicks]

George R. R. Martin certainly knows how to make twins organically woven.... Please don't block me. 🫣