screw fear. | THE 100

avoiding cliches.

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"rough landing." - murphy

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HEY GUYS. so today i'm going to be talking about avoiding cliches while writing your 'the 100' story. but of course, i just need to start by giving you guys a disclaimer so...

DISCLAIMER: if your book has one of these cliches in it, that's okay! they're cliches for a reason, because lots of books have them. cliches aren't even necessarily bad things. it's just that the more original your book is, the more captivating it will be to your readers because it's not the same book they've read before, just with a different OC.

also, i just want to say i'm totally guilty of having some of these cliches in my book, and i'm fully aware so don't hurt me.

anyways, without further ado, here's a list of cliches in 'the 100' fics, and my personal tips on how to avoid them.

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↠ "I'M NOT EIGHTEEN YET!!!"

i'm pretty sure that almost every fanfic for the 100 that i've read where the OC is a delinquent it starts out with them in a cell, then the guards come to put them on the drop-ship and then the OC is always freaking out like "no wTF i'm not even 18 U HAVE NO RIGHT i still have 7hrs to live" and they're all badass and freaking out and stuff. which isn't bad. honestly, i feel like it's a realistic way to react in that situation. but just because clarke did, doesn't mean everyone has to. maybe your OC is just stunned into submission & too scared to do really anything. maybe your OC was in the middle of a 'visit' with a friend or family member and is taken away during that. maybe they don't automatically assume they're being floated, and just think it's a routine emergency drill...maybe they heard rumours about the dropship going to earth so they kind of know what's going on... or SOMETHING idk i'm just trying to help you.

↠ THE BITCHY BLONDE.

this isn't something i see in all 'the 100' fanfics, but often clarke is written as an annoying, bossy bitch. yes, clarke can come off strong, and she does have a leader personality but she's not really as annoying as some fanfics make her seem. yeah, she does have her faults but i'm tired of fics where everyone hates clarke and loves the OC . also there's so many fics (esp if it's a bellamy one) where clarke is just kind of pushed out the picture and doesn't have a relationship with bellamy whatsoever. i mean yeah you don't have to spend your entire book writing about clarke and bellamy, but they are co-leaders of the camp and clarke is the freaking main character of the show so just be careful not to totally erase her from the picture. obviously this will depend on your plot and what your OC's relationship with clarke is like, but yeah. hopefully that makes sense bc lol i'm just rambling now and trying to protect my mother.

↠ FOLLOWING THE LEADER.

 in lots of fics, especially bellamy ones, the OC just literally follows bell around wherever he goes. like oh you're going to save jasper, coming with, you're staying at camp, that's where i'll be, oh going out in the woods late at night to find octavia, i gotchu bro. if you give reasoning to why your OC goes where they do, and it isn't always that they're just in every scene bellamy is in, then that's fine, like make them go do whatever you want. but like give them their own reasons and their own story line, let them do things without bellamy once in a while. & this goes for fics that aren't just about bellamy. if your OC has a love interest, regardless of who it is, don't just make them follow their love interest around everywhere, give them their own life pls.

↠ SIBLINGS.

i've kinda talked about this before, and i want to reiterate that having a sibling isn't always a bad thing in a fic for the 100. but you have to do it well and be careful. please no more, 'i'm clarke griffin's long lost sister' or 'i'm the 3rd blake'. it's getting kinda old. if you're going to make your OC a sibling plan it out well. choose a sibling who makes more sense, maybe a more minor character or another OC. and please only use a sibling if it propels your plot forwards.

↠ DELINQUENT OR GROUNDER.

i'd say in at least 70% of the fanfics for the 100 i've seen, the OC is a delinquent, and the other 30% they're a grounder. THIS ISN'T A BAD THING but if you want your story to be original i'd suggest giving them a different story. (i.e. maybe they're from mount weather, or a survivor of the Ark crash landing, etc)

↠ BADASS FROM THE GET-GO.

okay, i don't see this all the time, but please let your OC's character develop before you make her a princess ninja warrior. growing up on the Ark may have caused your character to be tough (depending on her background story) but she's not going to be shooting bows and arrows and slitting grounders' throats right away either. your OC is human, just keep that in mind.

↠ FRIENDS WITH A MAIN CHARACTER.

i am SO guilty of this. i just looove the characters in the 100 so obviously i want to write about them. in my fic my main character is best friends with Finn, and she has a past with both Murphy and Clarke (it's complicated lol you'll have to read it). even though this is cool, and a great idea because lets face it, we all want to read about our beans, i think it's a good idea to make sure your character has relationships with more OCs or lesser used/background characters as well.

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OKAY those are all the cliches i can think of right now. and just a reminder IF BC YOUR FIC INCORPORATES ONE OR MORE OF THESE CLICHES THATS OKAY. my own fic has like 2 or more of these cliches in it and it's okay! i'm just putting these out there for you guys to think about when you're writing if you want your stuff to be a little more original.

anyways, THIS BOOK HAS FOUR THOUSAND READS I'M SHOOK THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH YOU'RE LEGIT ALL THE BEST AND I LOVE YOU TO BITS. xoxo tay