Oh wait, no I don’t.
And what’s more, literary agents, editors and readers loathe clichés.
They get bored. And boredom is definitely something you want to avoid evoking
with your writing.
Sadly, Valentine’s Day seems to bring out the clichés in all
of us. (I’m not sure why that is, maybe
it’s the veritable onslaught of jewelry adds we are subjected to.) So in honor of the holiday, I have put
together a list of my favorite Love Clichés to avoid like the plague. Some of these I borrowed from other writers
or Literary Agent blogs, some are solely my own. Don’t feel too bad if you’ve fallen into the
love cliché pit, I’ve been down there too. (You’d find you are in some pretty rare
company down there.)
So without further ado here’s my compiled list of Love Clichés:
1. The love interest is knock-down drop dead gorgeous. This applies to both male and female love interests. Everyone is so incredibly hot these days that it is a wonder that all of our protagonists don’t immediately burst into flames. Give me a flawed love interest, that may be vastly interesting, but only mildly good looking, and I’m hooked. (Give me and Edward or Jace knock- off and I will probably stop reading.)
2. Love interest has green eyes. (I was really sad when I read about this cliché on another blog, as I’ve given some of my characters green eyes. But upon further reading, I have to agree with the original poster. Green eyes are the new blue.)
3. Something magical happens when they touch. (Electricity or whatever) Unless you’re writing about superheroes, give on the sparking electricity a rest.
4. They are destined to be together and only feel complete when they are in close proximity. (Think “You complete me”) It’s been done. A lot.
5. Give me an original kiss!! This one should probably be at the top of the list. I can’t tell you how many times I have read “and parted her lips with his tongue” lately. And we’re not talking about romances either. I’ve read this in everything from post apocalyptic fare to mainstream book club reads. It makes me wonder if writers are actually kissing people, or just reading other author’s descriptions of kisses.
6. Love interest and protagonist don’t get along at all at first, and then a smashing relationship evolves. (Damn, there go two of my MS’s….none of my characters play well with others.)
7. The sex is never mediocre. (This one isn’t mine…I’ve been writing YA after all and everyone I know is a virgin.)
8. Love interest is overly-concerned about protagonist’s safety. (This must be another Twilight carryover, because it is cropping up everywhere.)
9. Love interest is actually a vampire/werewolf/fairy/fallen angel or a half blood mixture of any of those. (Hell, I’ll throw zombie in there too, because there are too many zombies out there. Although not often in the love interest category.)
10. This one goes back to number one. Protagonist is either clumsy or awkward or not as fetching and somehow the love interest, who is a knock out remember, falls in love with them anyway. (I think this one feeds on the insecurities and secret desires of the general populace, but it has become fairly cliché lately.)
So do share, what's your favorite/least favorite Love Cliche?
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