I’ve shared my thoughts about several clichés in the past – but not all of them. Today, I’m returning to this topic with another one: inept and/or corrupt rulers (with focus on fantasy).
Continue readingTag Archives: cliché
Clichés: star-crossed lovers
As I hinted during my previous cliché-based articles, I’ve come to look into the ‘star-crossed lovers’ cliché and, eventually, what I call ‘the princess cliché’ subgroup.
Continue readingClichés: family feuds
Family feud is another very old cliché. While it was probably made the most famous by William Shakespeare, it has much older roots. In this post, I’ll share my look into it and try to explore the ways it can be used.
Continue readingClichés: collapsing cave
I am back with another post about a specific cliché. This time, it’s what I called ‘The collapsing cave’ even though it’s definitely not limited to caves, as I’ll show through the post.
Continue readingClichés: Forbidden fruit
Forbidden fruit: a very old cliché that, in some forms, became an idiom for something one should not do even though it’s far from the original magnitude. It still has its charm and purpose in writing. Today, I’ll look into this one.
Continue readingClichés: love eternal
In another cliché-related post, I’ll touch the most used and maybe the one most favored by readers: eternal love. I’ll share why I think it works so well as well as some thoughts about the alternatives.
Continue readingClichés: prophecy
In the past months, I’ve made a post about clichés and eventually a post about my history with one of them. Today, I’m returning to this topic to touch another in detail: prophecies (and, by extension, the chosen ones).
Continue readingClichés: the timing of pain
I guess anyone had seen this before: a hero goes through all kinds of hell and feels no pain but when it’s over and someone (usually an attractive female that ends up being his romantic interest) takes care of his wounds, all that pain comes back to them. Today, I’ll look at this closely.
Continue readingWriting: My history with the Princess cliché
Princesses are the subject of several clichés in children’s tales and eventually in fantasy. I’d say that “marry the princess and live happily ever after” is one of the biggest and oldest clichés. I have some history with it – and I’ll share some of it today.
Continue readingClichés – the necessary evil?
Here comes another post inspired by a discussion on Goodreads, this time about clichés. They are something advised against but can you avoid them completely? Can you use them well?