1. Audie says:

    “X Saves Christmas”–I guess it’s a season-specific cliche, but I do get really tired of the all the tired stories of how puppies, pokemon, groups of heroes, or what have you have to make sure Santa gets his sleigh out on time.

  2. The “I really love you, but I can’t stay with you because I’m afraid you are going to die (someday.)” And why don’t characters respond with, “Of course I’m going to die. So are you. It’s not that you’re afraid to love a firefighter (bull rider, secret agent, etc.) You’re afraid to love a human. So you really don’t love me. Move on.”

    Of course I’m being silly, but that premise bugs me.

  3. Tracey Dyck says:

    These are great, and I agree with almost all of them! (I hesitate to agree 100% with the sob story one, because I feel it’s an effective tool…but I can see how it’s overdone.)

    Reading this, I realized that I had a thinly disguised “I thought you were my friend” line in one of my WIP novels . . . so I went back and took it out. The scene stands absolutely fine without it. XD

    I dislike the oversimplified “the power is within you” cliché used for many types of heroes. Of course, as believers, God’s power IS within us, and He HAS gifted us for certain things. I just find that a lot of stories stop at that line. No one really explains how to access that inner power. The hero just seems to go, “Oh, okay,” reach deep, and then suddenly explode with new abilities. It seems to go hand in hand with the Disney-fied “follow your heart.” You’ll just magically discover everything you need within yourself, without a jot of mentorship or encouragement from another soul, without acknowledgement of a higher being who put that life and power in you in the first place… Yeah. End of rant.

  4. Audie says:

    “The One”–Thinking mainly of The Matrix, but the same idea comes up in a lot of other stories. The idea that one person in all the world has some special gift, skill, or talent that makes them special. Usually it’s a teenager.

    “Cut the blue wire. No, the red one. No, blue.”

    Big explosion in the background and people in the foreground diving toward the screen.

    Stories that begin with something like, “You’ve heard the story of X, but this is what really happened.”

    Zombie apocalypses–I’m sad to say that, but…please, enough.

  5. Steve says:

    “Follow your heart.” …Isn’t that what Hitler did?

What do you think?