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Alright… my WIP has a problem…
It’s too cliche.
Sort of…
And I don’t know if it’s unique enough. At first I thought it was, but I read something about the dystopian genre, and now I’m not so sure.
So there is this e-book thingy that I got from Story Embers and in it, readers answered some questions about certain genres and other writing stuff. Well, obviously since my WIP is dystopian, I looked at what readers were saying about dystopian… and it doesn’t look too good for me…
They said that they’re tired of love triangles or post-apocalyptic America.
Welp…
My story will end up having a love triangle and the country is based heavily off of America.
First of all, I feel like the story needs the love triangle. I know that sounds weird, but let me explain. My MCs (Amidala and Everton) have a friends-to-lovers dynamic. But, when another charrie (Adrian) comes in, that’s when the love triangle starts. Adrian falls for Ami, and Ami ends up falling for him, because he pays attention to her the way she wishes Ev did. Ev, staying true to his character, becomes jealous and gets all passive aggressive around Adrian. Ami doesn’t end up with Adrian because…
*SPOILERS
Adrian ends up betraying all the protagonists because he wants to please his father and earn his love. (It’s more complex than that, I promise. XD)
*SPOILERS OVER*
The thing is, I feel like this triangle is going to benefit all the characters involved. Ami is going to learn that not everyone loves the same way; Ev’s going to learn that Ami is not the only one who loves him (this is one reason why he becomes really jealous); Adrian… well… he’s complicated, and I’d have to give away more spoilers, but it’s going to definitely play into his character arc. (If you want to know more about him, I talk about him in the topic titled “Meet the Newest Charrie in My WIP… Adrian!”)
So that’s the first thing.
Second, is my fictional country, Aletheia, being too much like America. But the reason I wanted to do this, is to display one of my themes: that truth is powerful and is a light in the darkness. I know readers, (especially after hearing Aletheia’s history), will figure out that Aletheia was based off of past and modern-day America. Yes, it’s cliche, but I’m not sure if I should change it or not.
On the flip-side of things, people answered the same question about the dystopian genre, that they wanted more hope, more honorable characters, a male lead, for it address real life issues, and less glorification of darkness, while still dealing with it.
I either have or am striving to achieve those elements. So in that respect, it’s not as cliche.
So what do y’all think? Should I cut some of the stuff that falls into the “cliche” category, or keep it? I’d love to hear your opinions on this!
(And don’t feel obligated to answer. 😉 )
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Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
Hmm…
Well, while yes Love triangles are a bit cliche, in truth, Everything trope wise can be/is cliche. That’s why it is, in essence, a trope.
It always comes down to How You Write It.
(Trademark That XD)
So honestly I think thats always the thing to remember.
If it is needed for your book, and your characters, then keep it! Don’t let others always dictate your story. Yes, it is important to get reader feedback and such, but sometimes it just bogs you down, and you just have to stick with what you know is right.
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#ProtectSebThat’s a really good point!
I’ll definitely keep that in mind.
Thanks! 😊
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
I don’t have an opinion about the America-like country, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the love triangle.
When I first hear “love triangle” I usually cringe a little on the inside, but when you went on to explain it, I actually really like the idea. Usually it seems that authors put in love triangles just for the sake of drama and to cover up the fact that their plot is weak. Your love triangle on the other hand actually ties in with the characters’ flaws and growth and seems to move the plot along. I don’t think it seems too cliche if it makes sense with the plot and characters and doesn’t seem like it was just thrown in.
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@esther-c I could care less what a country is based off if it’s fictional.
And I have wayyy too many love triangles and such myself. I don’t see a problem as long as it’s written well.
And YES!!! Dystopian stories need to be WAYYYY more hopeful!! The ones I’ve seen (haven’t read a lot but have seen synopses and stuff) have been somewhere between slightly depressing but nice, and hopelessly depressing.
"When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers
And male leads? Didn’t most old dystopias have a male lead?
IDK if female dystopia protagonists is a thing?
The way you’re putting it, all of the problems with dystopias nowadays is they’re all trying to be Hunger Games knockoffs. And I know that had a girl lead.
"When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers
Ok so idk if this will help, but here’s my two cents.
The wingfeather saga has a super cliche trope of “lost heirs of the throne.” I’m sure some older readers just groaned when they read the end of book one and realized where it was going. However, Podo’s arc was imo very unique. Artham’s arc is extremely well rounded yet different. Nia being allowed to have faults as a mother and former queen, while not being a terrible mother is a nice refresher.
So I think having one cliche aspect to a story isn’t a bad thing, it’s when the cliche elements are a focus of the story, and there are too many of them. I wouldn’t know whether those elements will work for your story unless I read it.
Also, replotting a story is really scary. I’m 46k into my first draft and just about scrapped everything for a better inciting incident. Nobody writes a good first draft (Imo), so expect to go through a few drafting processes before getting what you want. If this is the arc you really want, then you should go for it. With enough work, you might do it better than all those versions that everyone else read and was tired of.
Also my world is kinda based off of America too. I’ve tried to make it unique by making historical monuments that will be unfamiliar to the reader, meaning they happened in between now and the book, which helps it to feel like another war.
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
Everyone’s done a great job explaining already XD, but if it fits your story, definitely keep it! It seems like it works really well in your situation.
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I think if it’s done well and needed then it’s fine having it there. Personally if someone was just going to have it there for no reason I would say get rid of it. Sometimes writers simply write something in for their own enjoyment. That’s not always good. However, if you need something for character development you should leave it in. Don’t worry about what others are saying. Your situation is different. 😉 Also, same with the other thing. Maybe you could have different rules and name it something else just to make sure it’s unique. Like you my world is very much America but it’s also very unique and different if that makes sense. Some might think it’s also a post-apocalyptic America but I tried to make it unique as much as possible.
Acc I’d say keep the cliches! It honestly helps it be more dystopian by association lol and really, readers secretly do love the cliches haha as long as they’re executed well and not too much in abundance!
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As someone who is writing a dystopian novel, I would say that you should write what you feel is best.
Love triangles never get old you just have to make sure that you’re keeping the emotions and dialogue your own (If that makes sense) I honestly love, love triangles XD so I say stick with it
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Thank you all so much!!! 😊
Hearing y’all’s opinions has made me a lot more confident about continuing the way I’m planning. 😄
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
[quote quote=143055]And male leads? Didn’t most old dystopias have a male lead? IDK if female dystopia protagonists is a thing? The way you’re putting it, all of the problems with dystopias nowadays is they’re all trying to be Hunger Games knockoffs. And I know that had a girl lead.[/quote]
A lot of Dystopias in the ya section feel like Hunger Games knock offs is because hunger games was successful so then a bunch of publishers pushed through a bunch of similar books to try and capitalise off of the success of the hunger games. The same thing happened with Twilight and Vampire Romances a wile back.
@folith-feolin Yeah that makes sense.
Wasn’t Twilight, like, the worst romance ever though? I haven’t read it so that might just be me parroting bias I’ve seen other places though.
"When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers
I never read twilight (not much of a romance person) but it did sell really well and the books were well received when they were released. It is true though that the success of the twilight book series led to an increase of publisher publishing vampire/supernatural romances because that after twilight released those types books sold really well as they were the trend (within the YA reader base) at the moment.
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