One Hundred Fantasy Clichés That Really Need To Rest In Peace

#40: Copycat Work

  Have you ever heard of the saying that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing?  If not, it is time for a bit of education on the negative aspects a strong book or concept may bring to the literary world.  Whenever any hit books, fantasy related or not, become well known to the general public, sometimes a tread can arise from the unique plot formula the novel created.  Copycats take advantage of the positive aspects of the book nine times out of ten, suddenly leading to a slew of books with the same plot formula.  Thus, hatred is put in the original work that started the trend, despite it having no control towards the writing world's negative reaction towards it.  People will start calling the book cliché, and create literary tropes just to define an entire genre of stories it unintentionally created.

For example, the creation of The Vampire Diaries book series was the first true example of a strong supernatural romance with an equally as great love triangle between brothers Stefan and Damon Salvador towards Elena Gilbert.  Besides being a strong love story, the series focused on forgiveness and the importance of family.  It was a hit for many tweens, teens, and even adults.  However, its creation unintentionally started the notorious supernatural romance literary craze which was worsened with the release of Twilight a decade later from The Vampire Diaries in 2006.  Books that had great potential such as Nightshade or Warm Bodies copied this formula, and made the entire fantasy genre look formulaic. 

  Then there is the hit dystopian future novel Hunger Games.  No matter how you feel about the first book and the series as a whole, there is no doubt it had a huge impact on the literary world.  People realized through this book that creating a dark setting was okay in literature and that every story did not necessarily have to end happily ever after.  The character of Katniss Everdeen created the idea of a strong female character in fiction, being desperately needed after the bland treatment many female characters have been receiving over the years.  The Hunger Games did change the way we look at writing literature today.  But its creation, like many other novels, created again a huge mass of copycat books for a quick cash grab.  Like The Vampire Diaries, it became hated by many for no reason except accidentally causing copycats to create unoriginal content.

  Many other novels, fantasy or not, have fallen into this trap as well.  The Harry Potter series spawned the cliché magical school setting, The Fault in Our Stars accidentally created an emphasis on tragedy-filled novels versus its original message of giving well meaning cancer awareness, and the Warriors series created a young adult trend of creating a huge clan or pack-like cast without giving the secondary characters any characterization.  Copycats are always going to ruin what made novels such as these great in the first place. 

  Despite that though, there are still those out there who want this trend to end with more original content.  They are the true authors out there, unlike the copycat writers who create content only for a quick check.  Writing is just not a tool you have to plant that money tree outside your door.  It inspires people about the strengths of your own ideals.  That is what writing was created for.  How have we forgotten this single fact?