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Friday, July 1, 2011

Friday Fives: You're So Cliched...

Writing Song of the Day: "Same Song and Dance" by Eminem

It's Friday so we know what that means--it's time to once again join the Paper Hangover gang for the Friday Fives. This week they want to know:


What are your five favorite cliches?


Um...gulp. Let's see what we can come up with...


1. The Love Triangle. Come on, what girl doesn't want two hot guys fighting over her? However, Quita and I just had a conversation about this, and we both agreed that we'd love to see more spins of this where 2 girls go after the same guy. Guys deserve love, too. Speaking of which...


2. The Bad Boy. Yes, this is coming from the girl who rolls her eyes whenever someone swoons over Damon from The Vampire Diaries or Eric from True Blood. Granted, I've never read the book versions of these TV shows--so maybe I'd like them more on paper. But, when done right--such as Jordan Catalano from My So-Called Life or Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights--I can't help but empathize with the "bad boy." I love when we get a chance to see why their guards are up.


3. The Meek Girl Becomes a BAMF. There are so many times when we see the female protagonist break out of her cocoon and start kicking some serious ass. Do we get tired of it? Umm, NO! I think it's because we're both very introverted, so we get to live out our fantasies through the likes of Clary from The Mortal Instrument series and Tris from Divergent.


4. You Are the Chosen One. Call it the Harry Potter Syndrome. You take your normal, everyday Joe or Jill Schmoe and--voila--they find out they're destined for greatness. We're still waiting for our calling. Yep, still waiting...


5. But Wait...There's More! Yeah, this may not count, but we're both becoming HUGE fans of trilogies. And by the YA deals on Publishers Marketplace, it seems like we're not alone. We love to see what kind of conflicts and character arcs can build over the course of three novels. Quita can't wait to read Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (the final installment in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series), and I can't wait to see what Beth Revis has in store next after Across the Universe.


Yay--we did it! Now you tell us--what's your FAVE cliche??


*Oh, and don't forget to enter our giveaway to win a copy of How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend. Contest ends July 5th! :)

12 comments:

Erinn said...

Awesome I love the meek girl becoming a Bad Ass. Awesomeness. In fact I think my newest book has about all five of those cliche's..
Is that awesome or a huge fail

Jennifer Pickrell said...

I love #1 - it never gets old for me. And now I want to read about two girls going after the same guy - awesome!

Alex Mullarky said...

Oh I cannot WAIT for the rest of the Across the Universe trilogy. The only annoying thing about trilogies is when the first book could easily have been a standalone. But ATU has so much more to cover still.

Tracey Neithercott said...

Sometimes I'm reading a book and I'll roll my eyes at one of those cliches, but a lot of times I really like it. I think it can all work if done correctly. My biggest pet peeve is the love triangle that's just there to be a love triangle.

I also just read a second book in a series and afterward wished I hadn't. The first ended perfectly and could stand alone, but the second ruined the story and seemed tagged on just to have a second story. (Then again, it worked perfectly for Where She Went...)

Alicia Gregoire said...

Good choices there! I'm thinking that I should embrace all of these for camp nanowrimo.

Racquel Henry said...

Great list! You girls did a great job with this one. I struggled with my list this time around, LOL. Don't worry, you'll both be the chosen ones soon enough! :)

Alison Miller said...

Awesome list - my first project starred a meek girl becoming the BAMF. And gosh - who doesn't want a threesome, er...love triangle in their stories? Actually I think I'm guilty of most of these cliches.

Very nice!

Emy Shin said...

:) I actually love it when there's a love triangle involving two girls and one guy -- and told from the view of a girl. There's so much potential for angstiness.

Amie Kaufman said...

Oh, bad boys, hi. I'm having so much fun reading everybody's favourite cliches--sometimes they're used a lot for a reason. They rock!

Ghenet Myrthil said...

I love a good love triangle too. I just finished reading the Jenny Han Summer trilogy - amazing!!!

Rachel Brooks said...

Despite "The Chosen One" being used over and over, I still love it too. Although I am kind of bummed I'm not a chosen one ;)

Claire Dawn said...

Trilogy is the new dystopian! lol.

I love the bad boy who's slightly broken- remember Jess from Gilmore Girls?

And yeah, 2 girl love triangles would be interesting. Not sure if I'd prefer to see it from the POV of one girl, both, or the boy.