When you’re an avid and regular reader, you start to pick up on certain book clichés. Some stories blow you away and other stories fall flat.
Most of the time for me, a story will fall flat because it’s lacks drive and creativity. As a long-time book reviewer, there are many stories and books that I have come across over the years that carry similar themes, tropes, and, inevitably, clichés.
What makes something cliché is not just that it’s been done before. While that definitely plays a part, what makes something truly cliché is that it’s a theme or a trope that has been oversaturated to the point of inaccuracy. This is particularly true when it comes to book characters.
I’m going to walk you through several book clichés it’s time to get rid of and why we’re so damn sick of them.
1. All white casts.
Never in the history of the world have we not lived in places of mixed races and skin tones. Why on Earth would it be different in a book? I’m absolutely flabbergasted when I reach the end of a new release and there was no mention at all of any person of color, especially when the author makes it clear that all the main characters are white.
Even in fiction novels, it’s time books are written in a way that actually represent the world we live in. People of color deserve a place. I would like to see more non-white main characters in future book releases.
2. All male casts.
This is another one that is grossly overdone. It’s like reading Lord of the Flies in every single social situation imaginable. It’s as though the author forgot that there’s an entire other half to the population, unless of course, the main male’s ego needs a bit of boost. Then, we’ll read about a woman.
Or, is she a woman? Maybe she’s more of some objectified hapless creature that doesn’t know how she breathes without manly men. Over it.
What makes something truly cliché is that it's a theme or a trope that has been oversaturated to the point of inaccuracy. This is particularly true when it comes to book characters. Click To Tweet3. All heterosexual casts.
Again, representation matters. 99% of the books I get sent all contain mini-romance stories within the big story that are completely heterosexual. There won’t even be a hint at any other type of relationship.
If there is any sort of representation, it’s typical gay, white men. Rarely stories about characters who identify as lesbian or bisexual. You can forget about pansexual, asexual, or anything that isn’t considered “mainstream enough”. Don’t even think about finding an interracial or mixed race non-heterosexual relationship. Transgendered people practically don’t exist in literature at all. It’s 2019. We can do better. I’m not impressed.
4. Damsels in distress.
This point should really be “Any male author putting women in any overly played patriarchal box ever”. In fact, I’ve also seen many female authors guilty of this, too.
I’m not sure why people are still convinced that women are these little, helpless people that wouldn’t know their “place” in life if they weren’t strapped to a man. Honestly.
Women have ambitions outside of getting married and having kids. A woman does not have to have some huge tragic backstory because, shock and horror, she doesn’t want to be a mother. A woman doesn’t suddenly become beautiful because a man finds her interesting.
These little tales that get spun a thousand different ways throughout these books are toxic. It’s telling your female readers that they can never be the hero of their own story. They can never amount to anything great without a man lifting her to those heights. BS.
I can name thousands of women who are absolute queens all on their own. I’m bored with and disturbed by the damsel narrative.
5. Villains who do evil things just because.
Nobody does evil things just because. Repeat after me: NOBODY. DOES. EVIL. THINGS. JUST. BECAUSE.
It makes a damn dull story and it shows a lack of maturity on the part of the author to suggest the antagonist enjoys colossally screwing things up just for kicks and giggles.
People have reasons. They can be reasons like they’re a psychopath with no moral compass and they just want to get theirs. That’s a reason. It can be that they’re a narcissist and always find a way to play the victim to fulfill their twisted soul. That’s a reason. It could be because they were supremely neglected and couldn’t find a way up. Now, they’re just causing pain not to feel pain. That’s a damn good one.
People always have reasons and characters should always, always, always have a reason if you want to write a good character.
6. Mental disorders being thrown in to add “interest” to a character.
I feel sick having to type that one out. I cannot tell you how many books I have run into where serious mental disorders have been thrown on top of a character to give them “depth” and make them more interesting.
It’s usually fairly obvious that the author not only hasn’t researched how that mental disorder actually manifests for people, but has also inserted their bias and created even more stigma around that mental disorder.
Please make it so I only have to say this one time and one time only: Having a mental disorder does not make you crazy. Having a mental disorder does not make you evil or make you do evil things. Having a mental disorder does not make you a sidekick or incapable of being the main protagonist.
Let’s grow up and stop playing into and contributing to truly disgusting societal stigmas.
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