Tropes and Cliches

1 - The Protagonist

This chapter is actually going to address multiple tropes and cliches associated with the protagonist. I've read several of the more popular books on the platform to give me an idea of what I'm talking about.

1. The protagonist always has brown hair, pale skin, and brown eyes and is always a female. It seems to be the American version of a typical reverse harem anime heroine. Most of the writers on this website probably fit this description, which I can understand. The point of having an average looking protagonist is so that the readers can insert themselves into the story, but that's hard to do when the heroine already has a set appearance. I'm black myself so most - if not all - of the books I write have a black female protagonist.

Advice: You can give the protagonist whatever appearance you want, but if you want to avoid the cliche, listen to what I'm about to say below.

2. The protagonist always has to describe themselves to the reader in some way. If they don't do this, they just stick a picture of the protagonist in the text. There's nothing wrong with the first part, but the last part comes off as lazy writing. Having a picture in the text can be used correctly, but sticking in the middle of the chapter interrupts the flow of the passage. The first can be used correctly, but many authors on this site do it by using a mirror to describe the main character. It doesn't interrupt the story, but it does make the story seem a little rushed.

Advice: Sneak in descriptions of the protagonist every now and then. You don't have to give us their mugshot or anything, just give us a tidbit of information every now and then. If you really want to show us what your hero(ine) looks like, put the picture in the author's note after the chapter is over.

3. The protagonist has to give us a full description of what they're currently wearing. Oftentimes they'll go into what kind of shirt/dress they're wearing, what shoes, even where they got their clothes. This gives off blatant daydream fantasy vibes or even makes it look like the author is just trying to pad out the chapter. In some cases, it feels like the author is trying to humblebrag about their protagonist (This could actually be a valid character flaw, somebody write that down).

Advice: Giving us a description of what the main character's wearing could be used to provide foreshadowing or give the readers an indication of a character's traits or personality (color-coding, anyone?). You don't absolutely need to tell us what they're wearing. Some things are better left to the imagination. (Side note: Your chapters don't need to be a specific length, either. They can be as long or as short as you want.)

While I'm here, I decided to write two examples myself, so I wouldn't seem like a hypocrite. I hope they give you guys an idea of what I'm talking about!

Cliche

My mud brown orbs started back at me as I stood in front of the mirror They trailed down to my ugly model-like legs and back up to my long musy brown hair. I wore a baggy red hodie withe light blue jeans and black converse shoes. A pair of black cotle shabed glasses sat on my nose. They would copliment anyone else's figure, but they just made me look like a hollywood actress- i mean - ugly mmonster.

CRYSTAL COME DOWNSTAIRS IT'S TIME TO GO TO SCHOOL!!!!!!" my mother screeached at me. I quickly picked up up, my backpack and rushed dow the stairs and picked up a apple as i ran through te kitchen not even saying goodbye to my mom as a wnet.

Trope

Cleo idly kicked her dark legs back and forth she scrolled through the books on her phone. The nurses hadn't got to her yet, and so she had taken the time to read. She hadn't made any progress, though, considering she was just scrolling through the selection of books. She had read all of them at least once, which meant that she would have to buy another one in order to satisfy her boredom. The problem with that was that she had only had five dollars left in her book credit. Cleo bet if she really turned the charm on she could probably squeeze a few more dollars out of her mother, but that wouldn't be able to get her anything good. It looked like she would just have to make do with the books she already had.

"You're Cleo Abbott, right?" the EMT asked as she approached Cleo. Cleo nodded in response.

"You don't need to do a check up on me," Cleo interrupted the woman as she opened the first-aid kit. "I didn't breathe in the fumes or anything." She began to stand up but the woman stopped her as came up.

"Then you won't mind if I ask you a few questions, right?"

"No. Go ahead."

"Do you feel dizzy? Any nausea or vomiting?" The woman took a flashlight out of her pocket.

"No."

"Do your eyes itch?" Cleo shook her head, her ebony curls bouncing around her head.

"Hold still for a second, please," ordered the EMT. Cleo flinched backward as the woman shone the torch into her ashen gray eyes.

"Is this your first time being around methanol? Are you allergic to alcohol?"

"Wait a minute, alcohol? What exactly happened over there?" Cleo pointed to one of the blown-out classroom windows on the second floor. There were black charred marks all around the borders of the windows.

"Apparently, two people got into a fight and knocked over a bunsen burner." So it was a chemical fire.

It was probably Abernathy, Cleo groaned to herself. Despite his size, that boy had always been looking for a reason to fight someone - he didn't care who - and it looked like he finally got what he was looking for.

"All right we're all done here." The woman put the torch away and picked up the first aid kit. Cleo let out a disappointed sigh as she stood up from the curb.

She brushed off her skirt before placing her hands on her hips. Knowing the dean, he'd probably tell all the students to go back to class. It was a shame, too; this would've been the perfect time to send everybody home. The students could've gotten away from school, and the teacher could've gotten a break from the students: it was a win-win situation!

Cleo picked up her bookbag and began to make her way back to the front of the school. Oh well. At least she'd have something interesting to talk about at dinner tonight.

A/N: Please ignore all the grammar and spelling mistakes up there. I totally didn't write that intentionally. That's ridcuoous, why would you even suggest such a silly idea? On another side note, I've noticed that a lot of novels seem to be getting better about grammar and spelling mistakes, but we've still got a ways to go. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and i hope my advice helped out in some way.

Au revoir, and happy writing!