Cliches to avoid when writing a story

These are some common cliches in Episode stories that you might want to avoid.

Note: Some cliche stories are good if they’re interesting, well made and unique. Plots centered around these cliches aren’t necessarily bad, but repetitive, un-unique stories are.

  • Mafia Boss LI/MC
  • Poor MC marries rich LI
  • Dating shows (some are unique tho)
  • Royal LI/MC
  • Popular high school rich mean girl trying to steal LI
  • Arranged marriage between rich MC and LI
  • Bad boy LI

There are also things that happen a lot, but they’re not really the main plot point (the story isn’t centered around them). They still happen a lot and they’re still really cliche.

  • When the MC thinks someone else did something bad, but they don’t have enough evidence, so it’s obvious that the person is innocent and the “plot twist” that they’re actually innocent is super predictable. You don’t even have a choice to not accuse them, it just automatically happens.
Example

The MC sees the LI with another girl. They aren’t even doing anything romantic, just standing next to each other in an isolated room. She runs away crying. After, she confronts him about it. The choices are literally like “Why were you with her?” or “Why are you cheating on me?” There is no choice to not accuse him. It ends up that the other girl followed him into the room, and he was innocent, even though everyone who read it already knew because it was so obvious. It makes the MC seem like one of those brats that don’t let their boyfriends within a 10-meter radius of other girls, even if they’re strangers or platonic friends, and they always accuse them when they talk to another girl non-romantically.

  • This one is literally so cliche, in one of Episode’s official guides for aspiring creators, they say: Avoid cliches, like the LI saving the MC from a dangerous situation. (probably not the exact words but still)
Examples

The LI just met the MC at a party. One of the people at the party hits on her and doesn’t let her leave. The LI confronts the dude and saves the MC.
There’s also: The MC is outside at night, and some drunk idiot dudes come up to her. By some small chance, the LI sees them and beats up the dudes, saving her.

You can add some if you know any others.

Please don’t kill me if you like these cliches

19 Likes
  • Vampires. I’m so sick of vampires. There are some really creative vampire stories on episode, but there just are so many vampire stories that are just boring.

  • This is a pretty specific trope I’ve seen a lot on Episode that bothers me every time. When the MC is dating a guy at the beginning and is then introduced to the main LI. They have a friendship, but the LI has feelings for the MC. Then it turns out the MC’s partner is cheating so they break up and within 5 chapters the LI and MC are dating. It just annoys me because there is so much emotional cheating before the MC finds the cheater, and there is also quite a but of almost physical cheating. I hate it.

16 Likes

theres this specific type of enemies to lovers trope that ruins the fun for me
when the story is stated to be enemies to lovers but they’re only enemies in the first episode. and in the second/immediately they’re friends. i get enemies > friends > lovers but if it doesn’t show me it gradually then u just might as well make it friends to lovers

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• Love interest is either completely perfect with no flaws whatsoever, or they can be an extremely toxic person with anger issues. There’s no in between.

• There’s a random creep at the club harassing the Mc, and the love interest swoops in and scares the creep away.

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Yeah, many of the vampire stories feel like Twilight rip-offs :sneezing_face:

Where’s the vampire clans, history, and lore? Give e something that feels like Dracula or Nosferatu. I don’t need another Edward Cullen.

8 Likes

A showstopper. That one guy/lady who would come out and ruin the relationship of MC and LI.

It’s a good cliché if done right, and it’s actually quite hard to make it nad, but overusing it and relying on it can be a problem.
If that’s the only obstacle that prevents the MC from dating the LI, then man, their relationship sucks. Give more natural causes, or causes that relates to a plot (LI is a killer, MC is a cop, two obviously can’t go together as if the world belongs to them).

2 Likes

The best friend trope. Speaking from experience, the socially awkward introvert is not necessarily gonna have a BFF, and they can get through high school just fine. That, and the archetypal best friend usually plays no role other than to meddle in the MC’s romantic/social life.

The mean girl trope is so stupid and overdone imo. She never has any real basis for hating the MC, and she should be suspended for her actions as a bully instead of being Miss Popular.

8 Likes

Hey Yos_Doggo,

Me again. I totally wanna lay down stories with mean girls and creeps in alleys. :roll_eyes: And the LI that is an over hot guy, that is the knight in shining armor and saves MC from the creep when she is totally drunk and drugged by the mean girl. Why??? Because it’s so predictable. I love to read something new, not a predictable story, that feels like wasting my passes.
So, what I should love to see is:

  • Give me an ugly LI;
  • A mean guy and female creep in the alley;
  • A bad-a**, I give no sh*t, MC;
  • A LI that isn’t toxic and NO criminal and/or murderer;
  • A family of the MC that is still alive (please, stop those car-accidents, cancer and other death-scenario’s for the big brother, parents, sister or twin.);
  • An ex that isn’t jealous or a cheating moron. :clap:

Love A-W

9 Likes

I would’ve believed a scene like this if the other girl is LI’s ex, LI has a track record of being a player, and they were doing very invasive stuffs (touching and whatnot) when the MC found them in the wrong time.
Because so many other stories had the LI trying so hard to reject the other girl, only for the MC to get so bloody insecure :skull: That’s totally not matured.

Small? Nah. In Episode, it’s everywhere :rofl:
This is straight up eye dropping. No one in real life picks fights like that in a bar. If they do, they’d get chased out of there and some may even ban him.
Ego fights are stupid yet so many people glorify them. And it’s not even exciting to watch them fight in the first place.

5 Likes

Often times the MC’s that are supposed to be bad a** tho are annoying because they end up being mean to everyone in order to appear “headstrong”.

What id love to see is that kind of MC, but in a place where she has a relatively normal life and isn’t born from riches or attached to riches via a love interest (because that’s often the case too). There are also stories where the MC is a powerful woman in a powerful position, which is great, but I’d love to see a woman in a normal/everyday position and maybe struggling a bit in life but she is strong and capable.

Because those are the people I admire IRL. The people that are clearly struggling and don’t always get “rewarded” by having a higher position because life just isn’t fair, but they’re really strong people because of it.

Like give me a MC who has a minimum wage job and is poor but a millionaire doesn’t “save her”.

6 Likes

All of this! :clap:t4:

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Notice how all of these are actually the only storyline episode originals have :skull_and_crossbones:

4 Likes

As much as I hate those random tragedies happening, it depends on the episode. With mine, the story is kind of about her family dying and her having no way to stop it. (Or so she thinks). But this is all spot on, oml-

I also am so proud of including an ex of the LI that is actually like family to the MC. But the LI and his ex get along, just platonically. Because believe it or not, friends exist. :woman_facepalming:

4 Likes

Almost all the cliches you listed are my guilty pleasures :smiling_face_with_tear::smiling_face_with_tear: except the mafia thing

3 Likes

Well, unfortunately I have that cliche in my story. No shame. :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

2 Likes

I don’t know if this is considered a cliche, a trope or somethin else :thinking:

But the one where the MC’s sperm donor (lost the right to be called a father) ends up abandoning MC and her mom when she’s just a little kid leaving them destitute, immediately runs off gets remarried and has more kids (which literally makes zero sense btw like you didn’t wanna be married or have kids the first time but you run off and do it again? LoGiC lmao :woman_facepalming:t2:), has nothing to do with MC her entire life doesn’t even pay child support, then MC’s mom suddenly and tragically dies and MC has no other family so sperm donor has no choice but to take MC in but trust me he loathes it and makes it clear as day from day one that he doesn’t love or care about MC that he only loves and cares about his “new and improved family” always sides with them over MC, none of them care about MC’s grief at best tell her to just suck it up and at worst tell her she has no right or reason to be sad (I guess your mother dying literally the only person who’s ever loved you, being forced to live with your bum of a sperm donor and being treated like :poop: by your sperm donor half siblings and step mom isn’t reason enough to be sad… oh okay :grimacing:), gas lights MC, in fact the whole “new and improved family” does the same thing as him and treats MC badly too, sperm donor’s actions are always excused, he’s a piece of :poop:, never owns up to his actions always and I mean always blames MC’s mom and everyone else under the sun for what happened “oh well I tried that one time to reach out to you by doing the bare minimum but your mom was a total meanie to me so I had no choice but to have nothing to do with you, if it wasn’t because of her and everyone else I blame even though it’s 200% my fault I would’ve been a great dad promise!”, the MC’s half siblings and step mom are always just as unlikable and toxic as sperm donor is, every thing is about the step mom and half siblings and what they want and don’t want and MC is expected to conform to that having zero individuality she tries in the beginning of the story but that’s quickly squashed, sperm donor always talks mad :poop: about MC’s mom even though her mom is literally the only good person in the entire story is the only one who took care of MC and is a poster child for a perfect parent and worst of all the MC is always weak just takes it all never stands up for herself falls for his bs and at the end of the story it’s just MC conforming to it playing “happy” family.

BIG ooof :grimacing:

5 Likes

Have that as a LI, no shame at all. But proud of it as a cliche. :wink:

2 Likes

Royal characters are the bestttt.

Dysfunctional royals are fun AF to write.

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I listen to a lot of reddit stories, and things like this is way to common. maybe not death mom, but a parent getting re-married and then threatening their child like :poop: is way to common.

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Yeah it happened to my older sister too we have the same mom but different dads and her sperm donor dipped out when she was 6 months old filled for divorce from our mom then got remarried had two biological kids and adopted two with the new wife :woman_facepalming:t2: Like I can somewhat understand not wanting to be a parent and leaving because of it but to hate it then run off and have more kids makes zero sense to me lmao “parents” like that are better off gone IMO tho so win win

2 Likes