How to Tell Cliches?

Beefy OOOF- Those two didn’t exactly have the best bios, hell, their bios are... kind of outdated?? x_x But yeah thanks, but their bios are definitely not representative of my writing style rip- really, the more recent characters have better bios; I’m sorry if I’m coming off as extremely defensive but Arie and Astrophel’s bios are definitely not representative of my writing style.

Anyways the characters I’m more kind of “proud of” so to speak are over here, but here’s everybody in my TH from newest to oldest (not really accurate of when their bios were written but... whatever)

123penguin64 Haha I tend to go “Uhhhh” when I see that in a published book so I feel ya :’) BUT anyways thanks for the advice!

I honestly really agree with the previous users, but here are my own two cents too

Is there a way to tell if a character is cliched?

I usually take a tour on tvtropes and try to find as many cliches as possible that fit the characters. Otherwise I think most people recognize cliches by the virtue of having consumed enough fictional content to be able to see clear patterns that keep on repeating. There are also a couple of tests online regarding the "mary sue" qualities in case you want to test your character and perhaps get a different perspective on them. It's worth noticing though that I don't really subscribe to the whole oc elitism where mary sue hate kinda stems from, and I think people should just make the OCs they enjoy! The more you work on characters the more unique and balanced they become with time! 

And does it really matter if a character is cliched?

To me it doesn't really, by default. Cliches are cliches because people like them: they're very often universal and can even be things real life people also repeat or perform in their lives. Cliches are simply patterns, and by itself the concept of cliche is pretty neutral. It's true a character burdened by a myriad of cliches can come across as very flat, predictable and by extension disinteresting or frustrating, but I genuinely think it's more about how you choose to write those things. Some of my favourite characters ever actually play with tropes and cliches by taking the basics and then intentionally turning them around in an interesting and genuine way (like a prince coming to save a princess, only to realize she needed no saving, and ends up understanding and even accepting he is actually the one who would have needed help a long time ago & learns to reach out for others)

Does a cliched character mean that you’re a bad writer?

Not necessarily! I think it's actually very clever if a person is able to have a character ridden with cliches, but writes and portrays them in a fresh and different way. Being aware of cliches and using them for your advantage are something I actually really look up to in many writers. 

KaNa Caine Aaaa thanks for your input! It really means a lot to me that you’re answering my questions; I’ll definitely keep your answers in mind

callilux Oh wow your reply was really thought out aa? I totally got your point, even if it was somewhat rambly (it wasn't really that rambly in my eyes) All of your replies to my questions were really just... they helped me out a lot. You're a writer that I really look up to because of how much detail byou put into Gates of Heaven and how you wrote the characters in it; what I mean is that they're all very unique interesting but also familiar enough so that people aren't put off by it.

Fangirling(?) aside, it really means a lot that you wrote this much to my questions, and I found your replies to be really helpful. However I'm scared to seek out advice from others asides from publicly posting on the forums because simply put, I just don't know how to start it. I'm afraid that I might cause someone to look down on me because they'd think that my writing is "subpar" or something like that. I'm just simply put, too scared to ask others directly. But anyways yeah I definitely should review my characters since looking back on Selaphiel's bio... it's kind of a confusing clusterfuck???

That aside, I sincerely can't thank you enough for this. And I'm sorry that my reply is waaay too short compared to your comment augh x_x

callilux

To be honest, I don't get the whole "elitism" that some people tend to do, like looking down on others' characters; to be honest if you do that you're literally just tearing other people down, and you'll get nothing in the end except animosity. And yes, I should put my fears aside and start asking others directly; writing alone without any advice is quite confusing at best and just tearing-hair-out at worst lmao; but anyways jokes aside, you do make a good point there.

i feel you on the writing thing .. ive been in a loop of redoing my main oc's bios over and over because im never happy with them but it's more because i feel like im not doing them justice or my word choice and storytelling just sucks because i have awful self esteem , but i feel like the best way to just get over that hump of self doubt is to just... write anyways? like, in the end you just gotta throw some words around and CONGRATS you done it , no matter what self doubt and stuff tell you

ANYWAYS THATS totally off topic sorry

Is there a way to tell if a character is cliched? - some cliches are really popular and are easier to find, but like, other than those and characters that are... obviously made to be cliches not really? unless you live on tvtropes or something. im not very hip with cliches but they're not a bad thing at all if you know what youre doing. heck i love overusing dramatic nonsense because i grew up watching badly made dramatic sims videos so i live for the Drama.

And does it really matter if a character is cliched? - not really! theyre tropes to be used, thats why they exist. but it boils down to what cliches/tropes specifically, i guess. like, making some ultimate dark emo dude who only wears black is ... completely different from a scum of the earth character who does everything bad just because theyre evil and mean. i'd say for me it matters more when the trope makes the character two-dimensional. like, emo dude can have personality and stuff while still being emo, while scum dude is just like... bad. i have no idea what im saying here im rambling

Does a cliched character mean that you’re a bad writer? - not at all! again they exist to be used. i guess the point is to also use them in a bit of a fresh way, but i dont really care much because if someone puts a lot of love into a character, that's enough for me man, even if their story is written like a sub par soap opera

zinnia yEAH I MEAN-- MAN OH MAN MY CHARACTER BIOS DON'T HAVE A CONSISTENT LENGTH AND IT PISSES ME OFF? I mean some of them are four paragraphs long in certain sections and some are just a measly two; that's not counting the ones that I need to revamp, those ones are only 1 paragraph long- and that's totally fine, I don't mind going off topic as long as it's somewhat related to the topic at hand

But yeah your answers are pretty helpful! I also love your characters as well, I can just tell you put a lot of love into them! But anyways compliment aside, in my opinion I don't really care if somebody's characters are cliched, if that's what they're doing then I'd just let it slide. Just let people have fun, even if it seems """cringy""" in your eyes

PaperTsubaki Just a heads up it just detects cliched phrases, not cliched content; I copy pasted Raphael's bio in there for shits and giggles testing and found that out.

But yeah your reply was really well thought out! I remember when I tried to focus on breaking cliches and as a result in retrospect... his bio literally makes no sense and I'm planning on a redux for it. That aside, I think creativity shouldn't be forced and it should come naturally; you do make a really good point there honestly!