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Hi, all! My current WIP is a sci-fi trilogy. I’ve never written sci-fi before. What are some of the common cliches in this genre that I would want to avoid?
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www.jennaterese.com@jenwriter17 Others might have better answers than me but here we go…
- Aliens with weird names like Zworg or Qluzzu
- All ugly aliens are bad
- Sci-fi stories that are focused solely on space and/or time, and new frontiers. People have already written stories like that (Star Trek, classic Doctor Who), and by now they are cliche because of it
- Lasers and laser guns
Bear in mind that I have mostly gotten these cliches from media, and I have virtually no experience with sci-fi literature (except Calvin & Hobbes), so I might not have been that helpful 😉
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@jenwriter17 Ooh, good question! Probably at least 50% of my reading and writing is sci-fi, and I have to say, there aren’t as many cliches as, say, fantasy (at least that I notice), because the whole idea of sci-fi is to come up with some crazy/unusual/futuristic/dystopian situation and use that as a major part of the story.
There remains definitely cliches, though. I agree with @dekreel, and I’ll add a couple more:
- Time travel. This is way overused, and it’s overuse is accentuated by the fact that almost everyone uses the same premise (space-time fabric, can’t see your former self, can’t change anything from the past, the future is always dystopian, etc.)
- Dystopian futures with messed up governments. This makes for a good story, but it’s used a lot, so you have to be careful to be original.
I’ll try to think up some more. 🙂
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Compendium of KP Literature: kapeeferliterature.wordpress.comThank you both so much! I really wanted to make sure my story was original, and not just the same ol’ sci-fi story. 😊
I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
www.jennaterese.comHey, @jenwriter17! Nice to meet you! I’m Aislinn. So, you asked about Sci-Fi cliches? Well, I don’t write Sci-Fi, but I sure have met up with some cliches.
Along with what everyone else said, (because those are the most common and also most annoying ones) here are some that I’ve noticed.
– Giant Doomsday Device/Superweapon.
– Overused X’s and Z’s. I don’t think I need to go over Jaxter Grimjinxx again.
– Generalistic, Imperial rule. Just a big, evil, faceless government that is obsessed with absolute control.
– Aliens. Yes, I know that when people think of Sci-Fi, they generally think of space stories. But they don’t have to be! Most aliens end up pretty weird, too….
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https://forums.theaetherli@mark-kamibaya had a great thread on sci-fi a while back that touched on a lot of cliches… Well-worth reading: https://kingdompen.org/forums/topic/beginners-tips-for-writing-science-fiction/
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Hey, so I am actually writing a time travel sci-fi book. I’m making it so the past can be changed like in Back to the Future. Is this bad or cliché? Would any of you read it?
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