Love cliches

bluejester12 · Nov 28, 2005

Im working on a daunting fantasy work with a romance at it's center. What kind of love stories are cliche, in general or in sci-fanasty?

emeraldcite · Nov 28, 2005

Aren't all love stories cliche? It's the dressing that makes it unique.

1. Love and Loss (Think Romeo and Juliet)
2. Revenge/Jealousy
3. Reuniting
4. Love at first sight
5. Love affairs
6. Infatuation
7. Puppy love/Adolescentia

All I can think of for the moment. Was that what you had in mind?

dragonjax · Nov 28, 2005

I agree with Emerald. There's no such thing (in my opinion) as an original story. It's all in the telling. So, to answer your question, they're all cliched...but that doesn't mean you can't spin it with your own vision.

Sage · Nov 28, 2005

emeraldcite said:
1. Love and Loss (Think Romeo and Juliet)
2. Revenge/Jealousy
3. Reuniting
4. Love at first sight
5. Love affairs
6. Infatuation
7. Puppy love/Adolescentia

Don't forget:
8. Love/hate

MadScientistMatt · Nov 28, 2005

bluejester12 said:
Im working on a daunting fantasy work with a romance at it's center. What kind of love stories are cliche, in general or in sci-fanasty?

Two attractive people of opposite genders meet, and immediately hate each other. By the end of the story, they've fallen in love. Sometimes this one is painfully blatant. How many movies have you seen when a character appears and your first thought is, "OK, this one is going to be the protagonist's love interest?"

emeraldcite · Nov 28, 2005

Ah, yes. The ubiquitous number 8.

How did I miss you, oh sign of the infinite? You taunting, symmetrical beast of a number!

Yes...good show Sage: Love/Hate. Missed that one.

A possible #9...#9...#9...#9 ... sorry, having a White Album moment:

9. Redemption.

Sage · Nov 28, 2005

emeraldcite said:
Ah, yes. The ubiquitous number 8.

How did I miss you, oh sign of the infinite? You taunting, symmetrical beast of a number!

Yes...good show Sage: Love/Hate. Missed that one.

A possible #9...#9...#9...#9 ... sorry, having a White Album moment:

9. Redemption.

I think between 8 & 9, you summed up the MCs' relationship in my NaNo fantasy novel.

fedorable1 · Nov 28, 2005

Let us not forget the Romantic Comedy Formula:

Step 1: Couple falls in love.
Step 2: Misunderstanding causes a breakup.
Step 3: One travels great lengths to find the other and reunite.

Or the Teen Romantic Comedy Formula:

Step 1: Best friends like each other, but don't admit it.
Step 2: The guy dates Ms. Wrong and/or girl dates Mr. Wrong.
Step 3: The friends realize their dates are wrong.
Step 4: The friends reunite and admit their feelings, ending up with each other.

My-Immortal · Nov 28, 2005

10) Love triangle

11) Love quadrangle...

And don't forget the Love Tragedy Formula:

Step 1) Couple falls in love

Step 2) Something or someone drives the couple apart

Step 3) One kills the other over misunderstanding / or couple kills themselves

loquax · Nov 29, 2005

Okay, I'm just going to cut in here.

EVERYWHERE on this site I see people throw the word "cliche" around with little regard as to what it means. My old English teacher told us that a cliche was something that was once fresh and entertaining, but is now overused, and has hence lost its charm of originality. For example, a human falls in love with an alien.

A tried and tested story will have life in it no matter how many times it's been used. For this reason a "love story" is as about as cliche as a "novel".

Diana Hignutt · Nov 29, 2005

There's the version of the love story that I've used:

1) boy meets girl
2) they fall in love
3) boy becomes girl
4) they live happily ever after

DaveKuzminski · Nov 29, 2005

1. Young woman meets young man and falls in love but circumstances keep them apart.
2. Young woman meets second young man and falls in love causing her to be uncertain who she wants while circumstances also keep them apart.
3. Young woman discovers that distance from both men has lessened their attraction.
4. Young woman then discovers she doesn't want either man and becomes despondent about her chances for love only to discover that her closest friend was in love with her long before she met either of the two men. Recognizing how much she cares in return for him, she realizes that is a stronger love than she had for either of the other two suitors and marries the one who was closest.

Yes, it's in Protector of Seaswams.

Sage · Nov 29, 2005

Diana Hignutt said:
There's the version of the love story that I've used:

1) boy meets girl
2) they fall in love
3) boy becomes girl
4) they live happily ever after

LOL. Either way, it's pretty original, but if you mean that the boy becomes the girl he fell in love with, I think you win the prize.

emeraldcite · Nov 29, 2005

but if you mean that the boy becomes the girl he fell in love with,

Although, I think Diana meant that the two girls went on their merry way at the end, I think I really like this twist...

and not in a comedy kind of way. This would be a really interesting premise.

My-Immortal · Nov 29, 2005

emeraldcite said:
Although, I think Diana meant that the two girls went on their merry way at the end, I think I really like this twist...

and not in a comedy kind of way. This would be a really interesting premise.

Or...
1) boy meets girl
2) they fall in love
3) girl dumps boy for second boy
4) boy becomes the "girl"
5) "girl" kills second boy
6) "girl" becomes "second boy"
7) boy and girl live happily ever after...?

Yeah, more of a fantasy / doppleganger type of love story...

Take care all -

Slimjim · Nov 30, 2005

Diana Hignutt said:
There's the version of the love story that I've used:

1) boy meets girl
2) they fall in love
3) boy becomes girl
4) they live happily ever after

I have a variation on the above.

1) Boy meets girl
2) Boy falls for girl
3) Girl is held prisoner by lesbian
4) Girl is disgusted by lesbian's advances
5) Boy discovers she is really a "girl"
6) "Girl" rescues Girl
7) Girl realises she is still homophobic and runs away.

I think this adds another cattegory of

12) Unrequited love.

Diana Hignutt · Nov 30, 2005

emeraldcite said:
Although, I think Diana meant that the two girls went on their merry way at the end, I think I really like this twist...

and not in a comedy kind of way. This would be a really interesting premise.

Yes, that's what I meant! I see that it is a dash confusing the way I wrote it. It's the premise of my first, Spectrum Award nominated novel, Moonsword, now languishing in publishing limbo...

CasualObserver · Dec 31, 2005

I'll assume by "love cliche" you mean "love plotline handled badly". In which case, I've seen it done atrociously on two fronts:

1) Not taking enough time to develop the relationship.

2) One side (or both sides) acting like an idiot for the sole authorial purpose of conjuring artificial tension.

Both lose on credibility grounds.

katiemac · Dec 31, 2005

Boy meets girl and they have a one night stand which, naturally, features fantastic sex. (Usually this action is completely out of character for the female, yet she just couldn't resist his smoldering eyes and hot bod -- maybe she was even drunk.) They never think they'll see each other again and then, as fate would have it, they end up working together/meeting at a benefit/saving the world, and, without any other basis for a relationship other than their sexfest, they fall in love.

Jewel101 · Jan 2, 2006

good one katie

anyway, good place to throw in my question. I've realized that my whole romance bit of my book is kinda sunk. I need a way to spice it up. I need a way to make the reader uncertain about whether the two end up together. Any suggestions? (besides love triangle, already got that, i think it died)

Sage · Jan 2, 2006

Jewel101 said:
good one katie

anyway, good place to throw in my question. I've realized that my whole romance bit of my book is kinda sunk. I need a way to spice it up. I need a way to make the reader uncertain about whether the two end up together. Any suggestions? (besides love triangle, already got that, i think it died)

Make it seem to the reader & one of the characters that the other betrayed him/her?

DaveKuzminski · Jan 2, 2006

Right now, I've got a character who's been dishonored by her culture. Though she still operates an inn, she's lost all status after being manipulated by another character who caused that. She lost her status primarily because she killed her husband in a fit of rage believing he was turning against her. Now she's found herself forced into bed with the man who manipulated her.

So, the question is whether it would be too cliche for her to fall in love with the man who's manipulating her and gradually becoming evil? If not, then it will probably work well as a reason for her to reach a state of utter despair and later kill herself.

Jewel101 · Jan 2, 2006

Sage said:
Make it seem to the reader & one of the characters that the other betrayed him/her?

i kinda did that. The guy feels hurt because he started to show feelings and she returned them and then turned around a fell for someone else. but i need more

clara bow · Jan 2, 2006

13) Forbidden love...a "cliche" I'm exploiting in my current work!

Sage · Jan 2, 2006

Jewel101 said:
i kinda did that. The guy feels hurt because he started to show feelings and she returned them and then turned around a fell for someone else. but i need more

Is there any way to up the stakes on the betrayal (or on another betrayal or supposed betrayal)? Not necessarily just a betrayal in her feelings, but perhaps in some other aspect of the plot.

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