I'm working on a fantasy novel. The my main character's parents are murdered and later, he comes in contact with the murderer's daughter, when she's captured. She looks just like her mother and he's freaked out and afraid of her. She goes out of her way to befriend him. They make make tentitive, private peace with each other. Then things get interesting--he goes from wuss to rebellious as he gets older. She's attractive, they've got this secret emotional connection--do they fall for each other, or is that just too unrealistic or too cliche?
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Mei 3, 2008 - 20 35
I would say that under the right circumstances, it could work, but you'd have to be very careful not to fall into cliches with it.
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Mei 4, 2008 - 19 15
There's one key question to ask here: are they falling in love because that's "the way it's done", or are they falling in love because there's a genuine connection between them? Cliches are only cliches when they're used unthinkingly. When you have a valid reason for doing something a certain way, you're using it uniquely, and then it's not a 'bad' cliche. The problem comes when people write things without thinking about why it happens the way it does.
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Mei 11, 2008 - 14 41
It's about finding the truth of the situation, and ensuring that it encompasses the possibility of love between them. It worked in Romeo and Juliet, because it was the families at war, not the individuals.
It comes down to the kids' interpretations of their parents' actions. Can they find a reason to communicate? Is there common ground that will give them enough connection to work through the elephant in the room? "She's hot" is probably not enough of a connection on its own.
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Mei 12, 2008 - 09 53
The way I test to see if something is cliche is if I can guess what happens because that's what happens in every story. I knew they would fall in love before I read that sentence so perhaps that's something to think about.
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Mei 12, 2008 - 13 09
"Cliches" are never called cliches when they're done well, even if they're the exact same plot. If you try to avoid every single cliche in existence, you won't have much of a story. Don't worry about cliches... just worry about writing a good, believable story with characters people can enjoy. The cliches will take care of themselves.