Pink Tiffany Magazine - Issue 3 Happiness

Fantasy Cliches

Written by @MiaBiaPia23

Okay, so we have all read books that seem to have the same story line, or the same twist, haven’t we? In the world of writing we call those clichés, and they are EVERYWHERE. So, in my article, I’m going to name some very common clichés in fantasy books and ways you can still make a great story without using those rotten cliches.

1. My Hero! We all have to admit that sometimes in a fantasy book we have a mythical creature captured and *gasp!* the boyfriend (or sometimes girlfriend, but usually boyfriend) or love interest is there to save the day and everything becomes happy and it’s a happily ever after! That right there is one of the most over used clichés in fantasy history! Sometimes it works in stories, but when it's used too often a lot people don’t really want to read your story. Here are some ideas to help with not using this cliché…

- Have your character find their own way out. It will make your character seem strong and capable, as if they can cope in situations instead of relying on a knight in shining armour to come save them.

 - Have someone come and save them, but in a sudden plot twist maybe they themselves can get captured. Happiness can evolve over time, not just suddenly appear. Now the character that was first captured can get them both out, and again it will make them seem capable and strong.

2. Happily Ever After! Sometimes, the problems get resolved too quickly. The story seems rushed and breathless. For example, your mythical creature might get captured in a cage, and the key is left right in front of them, so they can escape and live happily ever after. Or, as I said before, romance might be the answer, and the characters ride into the sunset and live happily ever after. Sometimes, happiness can have different meanings to different characters, so even though a character can be happy at the end, they don’t have to have a normally happily ever after. So instead of the happily ever after cliché, you could use…

- Happiness on a different level. Different types of happiness can suit your character personally, so instead of using the cliché, make the character happy in the sense of what would make them happy. For example, if a character was looking for answers, their happily ever after could be finding the answers that they were looking for. Now that I have written that it does seem a bit confusing, but hopefully it make sense to you! 

- If you are going to use the happily ever after, change it to suit your story. “Happily ever after” doesn’t mean a knight in shining armour riding with your character into the sun in a magical  carriage. Your happily ever after could be something completely different, so don’t feel like you are subjected to using the cliché 100% to the rules. Change it up a bit!

3. Finding out they have Superpowers. Even movies have used this cliché. Fantasy can have to do with superpowers, mutants etc, and they normally find out during a state of an “emotional outbreak,” like happiness. For example, we’ve all seen the first X-Men movie (PLEASE DON’T FLAG ME FOR COPYRIGHT) when Rogue kissed the boy and, you know, he went into a coma for three weeks. All powers seem to make their first appearance in the same way in books, even movies. So maybe you can use…

 - Being born with the ability. You could probably develop the character better that way anyways, because if they are born with their chosen ability you could dwell on things that have happened to them as a child.

 - Take an aggressive approach to it. Who cares about your characters well-being. Throw them in the deep end ASAP! If your character has an ability valuable to someone evil, make that evil person capture them, and they can explain it. It will add a story line to your book, make it longer, and make it a hell lot more interesting. Why? Because people don’t use it as often!

Well, that concludes my article on clichés to do with fantasy books, centering on happiness. I hope my advice has helped you identify some common clichés and you can still make your story great without falling into their trap. Tune into my next article and I hope to see your votes on my page!

MiaBiaPia23