User:Krayfish/Pet peeve cliches

Welcome to my pet peeve cliches. These are writing conventions that I am not particularly fond of. Just because I catch you using one doesn't mean I will hate you for life for it. In fact, I would encourage you to find new twists to these concepts. But part of the reason I'm listing these is to help you build your writing and make it original.

Earth is the center of the universe
This one is certainly up for debate regarding theology, but I will not get into that. The point is that there's literally billions of Earth-like planets in the universe. Why is Earth a magnet for super advanced alien beings?

Secondly, I am not fond of alien cultures stepping into Earth's past to influence their cultures. Granted, maybe one race can get away with it, but everyone? It's highly characteristic of Mary-Sueness, and it undermines the cultural genius that humanity actually did by themselves.

Chosen One of Destiny
The problem with the Chosen One archetype is that not only has it been done before, but it's heavily idealistic. It evokes a negative message that in order for someone to be great at something, the have to be picked by divine or omnipotent beings. What about the normal people? Can't they be heroes, too? Could there be someone else just as qualified if not better? Well, according to the Chosen One's prophecy, there isn't. No one else can defeat the bad guy.

The Chosen One archetype severely limits a character's overall personality. They have to do exactly as they are told. The prophecy itself adds insult to the injury as it makes the story incredibly predictably. It's an over-saturation of foreshadowing that ruins the surprise.

Genius characters who have talents in everything
Like the Chosen One archetype, this type of character undermines normal people. Granted, there are some very intelligent people in the world, but amateur writers will commonly fall into the mistake of making a character talented at everything. Why is this a problem? Well, it's godmodding for one. Secondly, it doesn't happen in real life. Sure, Albert Einstein is the textbook definition of genius. But was he good at everything? Certainly he wasn't. He was just talented in one particular field.

The talent-at-everything character adds insult to the injury when he/she joins a team of heroes whose skills are otherwise balanced. This is definite Mary Sue territory and it hogs the attention from everyone.

One-Dimension Villains
Villains are usually my favorite characters. Among my favorite archetypes are the well-intentioned extremist, the affably evil one, and the crazy nihilist. What I dreadfully despise is the one-dimensional villain. No complex backstory or motivation. Just a villain who laughs maniacally and does evil things for the sake of it. It often comes at an attempt for a writer to make their villain utterly evil, but if they do evil for the sake of evil, it becomes boring.

Forgetting about farming
Invasions are interesting stories. But one major pet peeve of mine is when the invaders suddenly forget about the concept of farming. To give an example, say there's an alien race that is harvesting cows which is their sole food source. Far too often, a writer forgets that the alien race could simply take a few cows and build a ranch back on their homeworld. Wars could be averted entirely if aliens remembered how to farm.

Sueperior race
Yes, the spelling was intentional. I'm referring to an alien race that is superior to modern humanity in every single way. I.e. A race of Mary Sues who think and act the same way all day every day. A perfect life style and no scarcity of resources. Nothing is absolutely wrong with them and they are innocent and peaceful. Everyone else in the universe is either considered misguided or evil. What makes this cliche so jarring is that it's just the result of a poorly constructed utopia, and worst case scenario, it is a writer trying to filibuster in their own beliefs at what a perfect society should be like. It would be far more interesting if this were a dystopia as it would be an actual source of conflict.