November 10, 2010

RTW: Nothing new under the sun

Each week, YA Highway hosts Road Trip Wednesday, a blog carnival in which contributors discuss a topic on their blogs and invite readers to do the same. This week's RTW topic is:
What are your favorite literary cliches?*

WEATHER
It gets a bad rap, but done right, weather can set the tone for a novel and even become a character in its own right. (see: LIFE AS WE KNEW IT)

A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MAIN CHARACTER AND HIS/HER LOVE INTEREST
While this doesn't necessarily equal a lasting, committed relationship in real life, it makes for conflict, which makes for one excellent read. (see: GONE WITH THE WIND)

MAGIC/MAGICAL CREATURES
It doesn't matter how many times I've seen it, if it contains magic or magical creatures and is well-written (heck, sometimes even if it isn't), I'm probably going to love it. (see: PARANORMALCY)

FAIRY TALE/MYTHOLOGICAL RETELLINGS
Shakespeare (or a modern English paraphrase of, anyway) once said, "There is nothing new under the sun but that which has been before." Our job as writers is to find fresh ways of telling tales as old as time, and I'll never tire of a well-done update. (see: SISTERS RED)

What are your favorite literary cliches?



*Did you spot the cliches in this post?**
**Inspired by Holly Dodson's RTW post and my accidental use of cliche in a post about cliches.

9 comments:

Denise Covey said...

'It gets a bad rap' would be a cliche I would say.

Good luck with finding your beta reader. Troublesome finding just the right one.

I love fairytale retellings. Francine at Romancing the Blog is having a blogfest on this in December..:)

Jennifer Hoffine said...

I'm a complete sucker for the love/hate relationship thing too, though I don't think it's overdone as much in YA as adult stuff.

Abby Stevens said...

Oops, L'Aussie, you pointed out a cliche I didn't realize I'd used! Editing my footnotes to allow for the possibility of more than one cliche! :D

Thank you! I have many wonderful betas lined up, but I really do need the one who can help me with that particular issue.

And I may just have to check out that blogfest! Thanks for letting me know!

Emy Shin said...

I'm definitely head-over-heels for love-hate relationships and fairytale retellings (especially Beauty & the Beast retellings :)).

Erinn said...

Ohhh Weather--- good choice!

Rainy night, the car skids out of control and poof you have yourself some conflict.

Abby Stevens said...

Jennifer - I think you're right. I actually can't recall a book that's like that in YA at the moment, though I know there's one out there. I'm still working on expanding my YA repetoire.

Emy - Don't you have a WIP that is a fairy tale retelling?

Erinn - Too true! I'm one of those people who like when books open with weather, can you tell? ;)

KatOwens: Insect Collector said...

Love GWTW-- such a great example of a love/hate relationship. What WAS going on with Rhett and Scarlett?

Rebecca B said...

Fairytale/myth retellings are a wonderful choice. I am such a sucker for them. Done well, they are fantastic! (And done poorly--well, I guess then they are simply cliches.)

Michelle Schusterman said...

Excellent, excellent points. And I love that you have a respected novel as a reference for each!

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