“What do you mean by talking in stereotypes?” you ask. Let me explain.
Take this for example:
‘My best friend is Mary. She has a really cute boyfriend, and he’s the school player. She always wears skirts, but she’s not a slut, even though people think she is.’
Do you see what I mean by stereotyping? You don’t want to say that about your characters. It makes the narrator and characters really cheesy and boring. You don’t want to have to tell your readers everything. Readers want to be able to create a mental image- and that comes from descriptions. Not bland, thrown together “this is what it is” type things.
And if Mary or Jane or Linda or whoever isn’t a slut, then don’t say “she’s not a slut”. That takes away greatly from how colorful your characters could be and makes readers ask “then why did you even mention it?”
For example, don’t say things like “he’s the school player” or “she’s the nerd” or “she’s a bitch”. Make your readers figure it out as they go along, rather than you telling them immediately.
For example, continued from above:
‘I’m really concerned over what goes through Mary’s head sometimes. Yeah, her boyfriend is a total cutie and all, but it just seems like their relationship is on shaky grounds. After all, he’s been around more than enough times than I care to count, and just about every popular girl has left some sort of mark on him- whether permanently I don’t know, because sometimes he seems a bit flimsy on “commitment” to Mary.
But I think Mary’s been trying to keep his attention away from other girls in the way she’s dressed a bit more provocatively. I’m proud that at least she isn’t wearing skirts that literally show everything, but at least she looks feminine without going over the top.’
Do you see how I’ve described how Mary dresses and how her boyfriend is “a player” without actually saying it? This also lets readers see more into each individual character as a whole, rather than them being “He is” or “she is”.
Here’s another one (for the cliché school ‘bitch’):
‘Shannon- oh how that name made me shiver sometimes. It wasn’t just the fact that she occasionally kicked people in the head when they got in the way, or cussed anyone out that cut her off, it was the main fact that she was generally unpleasant to be around. Of course, I had ended up under her fiery wrath one time and learned to simply stay away in order to not get kicked out of this school for fighting.
She was just one of those people that had to impress everyone with class or money with her sharp tongue or spiteful actions. As usual, the only people able to withstand her were the ones exactly like her in ways of being just straight up unpleasant.’
Don’t you think that looks much better than “Shannon is the bitch of our school” ?
The solution for you simple writers like this? Practice not saying stereotype words.
Here, I’ll even throw you a bone:
Try describing someone who is “a nerd” without saying “nerdy” “nerd” “geek” or “geeky”.
Try describing someone who is “a bitch” without saying “bitch”, “bitchy, “mean”, “bully” or “cruel” (et cetera).
Try describing someone who is “shy” without actually saying “shy”.
Go on, give it a try, and see just how much you’re able to let your inner thoughts flow.
