Part 3

Story Formats

ie, an Introductory ramble about clichés

Let us now move on to the story. Which is to say, the plotting (or not, as the case may be) part of it.

*drum roll*

But before that, I'd like to express my opinion on clichés.

A cliché is, roughly put, what you'd call an idea or a concept which has already been used so many times that even looking at it gives you shudders. It's highly predictable. You've seen all variations before so nothing in there really interests you. Or, alternately, you love the idea so much that you wish people would stop with those weird pairings already and write more of this kind of fic.

I'm one of those people who firmly believe that a cliché is only a cliché if the writer (or ficcer) makes it so. Any story, no matter how bad the premises, can be made into this absolutely awe-inspiring OhMyGod thing, if the writer finds a way to pull it off. The last OMGSOAWESOME! fantasy series I read was actually conceived because someone dared the Author to take two ridiculously incongruous ideas and smoosh them together to make a readable story. The end product was something based off the lost Roman Legion and Pokemon; which featured wide disparity between the ruling classes and the common men, a dying royal line, a secret marriage, a slavery problem, ursupers to the throne, superpowerful magical familiars, a royal heir who grows up as a nobody… all things which have cliché scrawled on top of them in giant fluorescent multicoloured neon letters. And that was before the alien bugs started invading the world.

And trust me. It was awesome, and that includes the alien bugs. Despite appearances to the contrary, I do not use that word lightly.

In fact, clichés often (but rarely in fanfiction, please make a note) make the best of stories, because a cliché becomes a cliché only if there's something in the human psyche which throws itself into embracing it. To quote, they are the 'hammers and screwdrivers in the toolbox of communication.' They are, if not essential, then at least mindblowingly useful. You can do a lot with a well-placed cliché.

On the other hand, it's really easy to hit yourself on the hand with a hammer. Just saying.

So yes; clichés by themselves are not going to be facing my wrath in this collection-of-chapters-trying-to-pass-off-as-a-guide, but I can't say the same for the ways in which they are employed. Actually, I kinda suspect that I started writing this thing (really, I can't call it a fic without giggling) just because I needed an excuse to vent about things. Mostly characterization, granted, but there's definitely a part of my brain (the one which cackles on a regular basis and enjoys poking virtual people with virtual objects with sharp edges) which is going to enjoy this.

Becasue some methods are getting to be just plain overdone.