Mining For Gold in Your Cliché Idea
That’s it! You’ve got it. Your idea is funny yet sweet, sweet yet somber, with a strong ending. It’s a story about a guy who’s in love with a girl, but that girl doesn’t know this guy even exists. Yet… YET. All this crazy stuff happens and by the end? He gets the girl! She falls in love with him too!
Crickets.
Why oh why are there crickets?
Because it has been done, my friend. You’ve just fallen victim to a cliché idea. But don’t put your head in the sand yet – there is good news. Like stereotypes, cliché ideas exist for a reason. This story has already been done because it shows us real slices of life (or how we wish our life were). This cliché idea came to you in your totally original mind. You saw something you’ve never seen before, not entirely anyway.
If you’ve become passionately attached to a story idea that has been done more than eighty (thousand) times, here are a few ways to unchain yourself from a stereotypical hell, and step into an authentically designed heaven.
Flip It On Its Head
This is just what it sounds like. Take that boring family photo, hang it upside down in your entryway, and watch guests do a double take. While doing something “artistic” just for attention is a worse offense than writing an overdone story, experiment with how your baby might change when you do the opposite of what’s expected.
Look at Pixar creation, A Bug’s Life. This movie took familiar personalities and relationships then infused them into bugs. This interesting take grabs our attention and changes the audience’s perspective, while still allowing us to relate to these familiar characters.
Put it in Space
A common joke among industry creatives. You go to a TV network, pitch a show you’re passionate about, and the executives LOVE it. Yay! But there’s a catch – they want to put their original spin on your small town love story so they say, “Let’s put it in space.”
Why not do this yourself? If you have a killer set of characters but your story lacks originality, put it in space.
The Notebook would have been a charming love story on its own, but the element of mixing past and present stories enhanced the depth of this couple’s connection and resulted in exciting storytelling. A Midsummer Night’s Dream probably started off as a common love triangle until Shakespeare plopped these couples in a magical forest and made half of them fairy-like creatures. The result? Audiences enjoy a seemingly unique tale about emotions we can all relate to.
Role Reversal
When you have a cliché idea on top of cliché characters, you can do one of three things: 1) Walk away. 2) Accept that your story will help people everywhere take an epic nap. 3) Incorporate role reversal.
Our world is more openly diverse than ever, kicking the door open for unconventional relationships, characters, and drama. Enjoy experimenting with different POV’s, genders, races, time periods and see what comes to the surface.
What if When Harry Met Sally was set in prison? What if Hamlet was a woman? Don’t sell out by inserting wacky story elements without a purpose, but do let yourself experiment with the big changes that can occur by shifting minor details.
Magic happens when an unrelatable world becomes relatable through familiar characters. After all, our basic needs, wants, joys, and pains are universal. If you do this successfully you’ll expand the viewpoint of your readers and win major brownie points from the creative gods above.
A Big Blow
If you can draw your audience in with dynamic characters or a fascinating world, take your cliché idea and set the audience up for a big surprise. Let them think they’ve figured it all out. Make them think they know just what’s coming next. And then? Change it. It’s like lulling someone to sleep then sounding a blow horn. It might not be favored, but if you do this just right you’ll create a powerful storytelling impact. This tool should be used for good and not evil.
Regardless of which route you take, any idea is original if you let your own voice and unique sense of play come out.
David L. Hancock, Founder
Morgan James Publishing