We all want to be original, but sometimes our story just doesn't end up being all that.

It's a risk that I'm running at this moment. My superhero story isn't particularily original and I have this feeling I'm using some relatively cliché characters as well. Perhaps this is a side-effect of the genre.

Are you trying your best not to use any clichés? Are there any twists that you're trying to implement that are just too obvious? Are you trying to sell it off as "it's not the story, it's the way you tell it" or "the movie itself is character-driven, the story is unimportant"?
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Don't worry about that - write the story, and fix your concerns in the editing process. Ultimately, there are no new stories. If we all sit and wait for a truly original idea, we'd all dry up.
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It doesn't matter the topic of the movie, if you follow the formula, it's predictable.

That's not a bad thing! There's a reason the formula works! But we all still know what's going to happen when... At least, if we are students of the formula. And even if you use a variation of the formula, we know there's only so many ways the story can go.

It's not bad being predictable, especially if you're memorable.

I'm going with "it's not the story, it's the way you tell it."

And after all, tropes are not bad. Common elements wouldn't've stuck around so long if they're always terrible.

There is no originality left in the world, every movie/script follows a base that has some what already been done before, i dont care about been original, i just write and have fun doing it.

I agree with Movie Romantic. It's hard to be original because every story has already been told. You just have to make it your version of the story.

I tried doing something totally different: I started with everything completely and intentionally cliched (which was very funny) and then rounded everything out instead of the other way around. I hope that by knowing from the very beginning what cliches everything might end up as I'll be able to avoid being too cliched.

Also, you just made my day by using a TV Tropes link, Kaxen.

Yes--by all means avoid anything you personally think is a cliché!

As so many above have said, there is nothing original, all stories have been told, etc. While true, I don't think any of that matters. Every "love story" involves a boy and girl falling in love. In fact every real-life circumstances of love and marriage involve the same thing. So those few trillion stories are "old news". And yet we still have room for another love story.

That's because the TELLING of this one has characters we like, we identify with, and a story which is, at scene level, compelling. It's predictable in the sense that we assume the boy will get the girl back, the sheriff will reclaim the town for the town's people, etc. But you can tell these stories with excitement, build interest, or you can write them flat and clichéd.

So how do you avoid the cliche? At scene level. The scenes themselves, most every one, need to have an inherent conflict that drives that ONE scene. He goes to get a hammer--there's no hammer. He decides to take a cab--but it starts raining and everybody is getting all the cabs! They decide to take the long route, but his buddy sprains is ankle!

Scene 23 is supposed to accomplish X. First questions--what is the problem, interference, foe, or blockade?

Take care of the scenes, give them some momentum "push" into the next scene, and it won't be clichéd.

The over-arching aspect of a series of scenes may be to save the damsel-in-distress. Clichéd. That's fine. Make the component scenes that comprise this be individually interesting and the overall predictability of construct (Yes, he will save her.) is not as much a problem.

-- Gerry

My superhero comic is a series. While it's targeted to people who aren't necessarily comic book readers, I'm very concerned about predictability. On the one hand, I want to make the story repeatedly satisfying, and one way to do that is to essentially give the readers the same story told in many different ways (think "Superman has to keep Lex Luthor from taking over Metropolis"-- how many story arcs are essentially that?)

But on another level, if the story boils down to "new character is introduced, character betrays the superheroes, superheroes must fight and defeat the new villain," then I'm failing as a storyteller. And, more importantly, my audience won't be interested, because they're not necessarily comic book readers to begin with. You can get away with retelling once or twice with comic book readers, but people who are in it for the STORY actually want you to tell, you know, a story.

I get around this by telling the same story over and over again, but with different window dressing. So I'll have the betrayal be a new friend of the kids. And the next issue is a flashback to when their mom was betrayed. And the next issue has not an outright betrayal, but a rebellion within the team. And the next might be an internal betrayal-- one character experiences a crisis of identity or meaning. Etc. And then in the next volume, perhaps the theme isn't betrayal. Perhaps that theme has more to do with the conflict between generations, young/old, past/present, and developing that conflict (which can be parent/child, or could be teachers/students, childhood self/now, or even a literal time travel issue).

I say everything has been done...it's a matter of execution.

It's impossible to be completely original and cliche-less, but for my part, I do my very best. Personally, one of the things I love to do is to destroy the genre. To quote Blabber: "It's predictable in the sense that we assume the boy will get the girl back, the sheriff will reclaim the town for the town's people, etc." Why should the story end that way? I don't disagree in any way with what Blabber says...the execution is the most important part, but one of my favourite things to do is to break some unwritten rule of whatever genre my story could most easily be classified as. Write a love story...typical, cliched, but well-written enough that people are drawn in, but then change something.

Not something superficial, like the love interest ending up with the main character's brother (okay, that's probably a bad example) but something that happens in every single romance novel ever written.
Guy and girl fall in love...guy declares everlasting love to the girl...then the girl developes schizophrenia (that is possible, right?). The only person she's able to be around is the guy, and apparently his everlasting love wasn't quite as everlasting as he claimed.

So, that's one technique. Another thing that helps majorly, even though it's just something small is to change the dialogue. Make up some phrases. DO NOT use any phrases that sound cliched, unless you want it to be cliche. Even the phrases that you wouldn't think are cliches, but that seem to come automatically to most situations ("What is this place?"/"Where are we?"/other variations thereof..."Who are you?"...etc) are phrases that I try not to use. If I can come up with ANYTHING else for them to say, I'll do that instead. (Jane Espenson's cameo talks about that...she's brilliant. ^_^)