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| Does your YA Paranormal Romance have enough cliches? Click to find out! |
For all of us out there writing urban fantasy/paranormal stories with elements of romance, this flowchart should help us feel more secure in our capacity to avoid (or embrace) the cliché. Also, check out @TropeHeroine on twitter. She's not me, but so full of awesome I had to give a shout out on this page!
(Ok, so yes the subject is only tied to writer insecurity in the loosest sense, but hey - it's fun, and that's what IWSG is about too -- taking a breather from the stress of writing/editing)And now ... the original post:
Think you've written a YA Paranormal Romance?
YAPRs can be difficult to write, because there are so many things to think about: physical attraction, hero swoon-factor, broodiness, eye color ... and the list goes on! No need to worry - just follow my recipe for success! Before sending your manuscript out to agents, use the following flowchart to make sure you've included enough clichés!
Flowchart: Does Your YA Paranormal Romance Have Enough Clichés?
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| Click the flowchart to find out |
The flowchart is broken down into five key sections:
Plot || Pacing || Chemistry || Him || Her
Each of the sections includes valuable questions such as:
"Is he too dangerous for her, but can't stay away from her?"
"Has she been invisible her entire life until the new hotter-than-life paranormal guy comes to town and notices her?"
"Does the first kiss include a 'soft moan' of any sort?"
The flowchart's easy yes-or-no question threads take you step by step through each aspect of your novel. Click on the link or the image above to see the full flowchart. Following each line of questioning are detailed recommendations for increasing the heart-throbbing swooniness and cliché -count of the manuscript. Don't cheat! Follow the recommendations on this flowchart to the letter and you'll soon be on your way to a best-seller!
Other Random Pages of Distraction: Pitch Factory - Generate Your Own Twitter Pitch || List of YA SFF Lit Agencies
What a riot! I love this.
ReplyDeleteOh, geez. Now I have to do some major edits to fix all of my mistakes. I mean, honestly, how could I have forgotten to give them matching eyelashes.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love this.
This is hilarious. I particularly like the t-shirt bit. It is so right, its scary! Thanks for stopping by our bog, cause now I got to see this greatness :-)
ReplyDeleteHaha, cute
ReplyDeleteThanks all for stopping by! Hopefully ya'll had as much fun reading as I did making it! It was the only constructive(?) way to vent all of my pent up rants about YA Paranormal Romances.
ReplyDeleteChristina: Yes, they definitely both need long eyelashes. Even better if said lashes raise and lower in sync just before they kiss.
I must say, this is BRILLIANT. Not only is it a constructive way to vent rants, it's also incredibly helpful! In all seriousness, click this to see just how many others agree with me.
ReplyDeleteThis is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteNow following your blog :) I hope you love it here in Sydney!
Wow, that is uncannily accurate - I ALL the things you've put on there, but you're right, there must be a formula like this hanging in offices at the publishing houses, because that's all that get published!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant work :-)
This is beautiful. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the BEST things I've seen in awhile. Flowcharts FTW
ReplyDeleteYou're my new hero.
ReplyDeleteThis flowchart was so fun to make (and also saved my Kindle from being thrown out the window on numerous occasions). I'm glad you all are enjoying it! Thanks for all the lovely comments, you totally made my day!
ReplyDeleteOMG! this is hysterical!! Thanks for sharing! Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteLove the chart! So funny, and true
ReplyDeleteLOVED this. So true. I'm glad I'm not writing a pnr romance, because I just know I'd fall into all these cliche pitholes. I always feel sorry for the ver first pnr romance writers, because it wasn't cliche when THEY wrote it ;)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful! XD so amazing.
ReplyDeleteJust found this post and I think I DIED laughing. Now that I'm dead, I can be a character in a paranormal romance, right? Right? :)
ReplyDeleteJessie - LOL. Yes. You are now allowed. Commence moody traversing old high school haunts.
ReplyDeleteI just keep thinking of Twilight. You've totally nailed the cliche and I just love how you always have a chart or some kind of nerdy gadget to share. You are awesome!
ReplyDeleteWow.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I love the design of your blog.
This is so funny! I'm dying here.... No wonder I think so much non-PNR YA reads exactly like YA PNR. It's all those silly cliches making me feel like I'm reading a romance novel instead of a dystopia/apocalypse/urban fantasy/whatever.
ReplyDeleteI promise I will steer clear of these in my YA fiction! Hopefully, if I don't, a beta reader will clock me on the head about it.
Hi, visiting from the IWSG. Though I write MG, I love reading YA. I am trying my hand at a YA Romance now (just written around 40 pages).
ReplyDeleteRachna Chhabria
Co-host IWSG
Rachna's Scriptorium
Things like this make me SO glad I don't write romance! All those cliches--- and for some reason romance cliches seem more, well, cliched then other genre's cliches.
ReplyDeleteStill, I'm hoping not to have my YA Western/Fantasy heroine kiss her horse or have a gunfight with the villain outside the saloon at high noon....
Hilarious. But the self esteem stuff makes me sad - we can do better than this, ladies! :)
ReplyDeleteLOVE this post! :) We should make a flowchart for ever genre!
ReplyDeleteI nominated you for a fun little blogging award, because your blog is so lovely!
http://emmalovesbooks.blogspot.ca/2013/05/very-inspiring-blogger-award.html
Love this! Thanks for resharing this post. :-)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've nominated you for the Liebster Award. ;-) Stop by my blog for more info.
LOL. I wish I had read this BEFORE I began posting my YA Paranormal Romance, I mean my HOT New Paranoral Romance on Wattpad.
ReplyDeleteIf you're bored, please come see if I have enough cliches to send to an agent. Leave a message on that.
It's The Almost Rock Star (A Ghost Story), http://www.wattpad.com/story/7930997-the-almost-rock-star-a-ghost-story
This is too funny. I think I am guilty of over half of these common clichés in my books! LOL But still, it doesn't bother me to read these cliches in my YA, maybe because they're expected in most PNR books. :-D
ReplyDeleteDon't forget that the supernatural creature in the relationship HAS to be the guy. It's not like gender-flipping the norm will help your work stand out. Also, just stick to all the monsters we've seen in media a million times. It's not like the world has hundreds of mythologies to draw from and there's definitely not an easily accessable and completely free database sitting in your hand right now that you could use to research said mythologies. Nope. Not at all.
ReplyDelete