A good way of making your fantasy writing stand out from the crowd is to avoid the following cliches as much as possible, or find a way to subvert, warp, or distort them:
• Setting your story in an old-fashioned, medieval-style tavern.
• Having a prophecy / pre-arranged destiny that your character has to fulfill (or tries their utmost to resist.)
• Having a protagonist who is “The Chosen One.” It’s been done too many times.
• Having a protagonist who is an orphan, and whose parents / family were killed by the antagonist (E.g. Batman, Harry Potter, etc)
• The protagonist suddenly develops special powers after a trauma or after coming of age.
• A wise wizard / witch who acts as a deux ex machina (using magic to solve or get rid of problems)
• A magical artefact that can destroy or save the world, or control different fantasy allies.
• An evil villain who is just evil for the sake of being evil (most villains believe what they are doing is good).
• A protagonist who is completely perfect and good with no flaws whatsoever.
• The protagonist has to go through a period of “training” with a wise mentor or at a school for magic
• The protagonist’s mentor is a wise, old wizard or a war veteran.
• The main character or one of their friends is a secret prince / princess / heir to some kind of throne
• The main character has a vision or a dream that conveniently shows them the way to the next plot point / what they should do next. This has been overused.
• Good people / races being beautiful (like elves) and bad / evil people being ugly (like orcs).
• Non-human races lacking variation and all looking / acting similar to each other. Not all dwarfs have long beards, a penchant for mining, and brawling in the street. Not all elves are graceful, tall, willowy, and cold. Not all trolls are big and craggy.
• Sexist stereotypes (this goes for both female and male characters). Female characters have been depicted as something to be saved or rescued, or some kind of martyr who sacrifices herself for the hero, way too often. Male characters have been depicted as being the strong, macho type who has emotional constipation too often.
• Modern female stereotype of the “sassy” variety: has a rude / mean attitude, is drop-dead gorgeous but doesn’t know it, hates men / boys, wins every fight, and hates anything “girly.”
• A “gentle giant.” A person or creature or intelligent machine that is big and strong, looks terrifying, but is a complete softie on the inside.
• Unrealistic battle / fight scenes where the hero takes on a bunch of bad guys single-handed, or one after the other. This isn’t the DMV. Bad guys don’t wait in line to take a pop at you.
• Magic without rules, consequences, or limits.
• Names / names of animals or fantasy races that are spelled strangely (often with apostrophes). This makes the words harder to pronounce in the mind and therefore much harder to remember as the story continues!
For a complete list of fantasy tropes / cliches, go here: http://www2.silverblade.net/cliches/http://www2.silverblade.net/cliches/
Nightwalks 