Why Not Shoot Our Hero? Busting Plot Clichés

Fairytales are predictable. They reward heroic characters with happy endings. Good triumphs over evil. Love prevails. Boringingly cliched! What about a story that drops that gooiness and allows the darkness to shine through?

Sure, let’s read about the good fight and social harmony, but give me their opposites, too. I want to taste sweet AND sour. Let me be challenged and uncomfortable. Show me characters making difficult choices because not everything is warm and fuzzy.

"Heroism is accessible. Happiness is more difficult."
-Albert Camus

The desire to make everyone else happy meant Janet had to put herself last. At fifty, she’s alone and poor. Her future is bleak. She sells her organs to get by, but she’s running out of time (and organs).

Or let’s talk about the guy with wealth and good looks on his side but is being torn apart by poor mental health. He’s excellent with money by day and great with blood products at night.

These story foundations aren’t conventional, and their endings don’t need to be conventional happy endings, either.

Let’s rise and burn those nasty clichés!

It’s tempting for writers to right the so-called wrongs in these narratives by mending their illnesses by the end page. But in truth, some people will die afraid and broken, and all the doctoring in the world won’t change that.

I write adult stories to make readers think deeply. Yes, happy endings can be found, but they’re not where you expect them. They are unsettling if you locate them.

There are no fairytales. I’ll shoot heroes if necessary. That is the true magic of adult storytelling. My Doomed Hero‘s story begins by downloading my book. It’s free (for now). Get ready for a journey you won’t expect. Happy never after is just a click away.

-Michael