That is such a cliche!

So how hard do you try to avoid cliches? How does a writer turn a normally cliched character or plot into a non-cliched one? How do you feel about cliches in both your writing and reading other people's work? Can they be utilized to your advantage?

I quite like cliches, if they're uses in an endearing (or perhaps, sarcastic) fashion. I do think it can feel a bit like lazy writing though, and there is always another way to word something, so I use them minimally.

Red's Hawt Chibi Pelippers said:

I'm not super sure what to count as a cliche though. Hrm. Care to give some examples? 8)

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Sure! There's the ditsy blonde, the super-tough chick, the bad boy turned sweet by love, and the dumb jock to give a few examples about characters. Plot wise, there's the Disney, "Only true love can save you" plot.

I struggle getting past them in my writing. I know how not to make a cliched character, but putting that into practice can be hard. You just have to find things only that character has, like little quirks. I struggle with that constantly. It seems that I have a hard time making my characters stand out.

As far as reading, cliches can still work, but they have to be done well. I really like it when a story follows a cliche, but then turns it around at the end. So you think you know what's going to happen, but then you're blindsided by the ending you didn't see coming.

Exactly like Frozen. It was great and the ending I didn't see coming at all. It's a good example of turning cliches around.

I have a hard time with cliches when I write. When I was younger I was under the impression that a "cliche" character meant they were too perfect (which I now know is a "mary-sue"), so I tried writing about people who were deeply troubled, with some sort of terrible thing that happened in their past, but then I realized that is a huge cliche as well hehe. I'm not very creative. ;c

I see women being very "woe-is-me" and helpless in many stories, so I tried to write about women who are empowered and determined to be independent. But... I feel like that's quite overdone these days too. *-* Blah.

I think any character you're ever going to create is going to be a cliche of some sort. It's all about giving them quirks that make them different. Or, at least that's what I think.