Hello!

I'm going to talk (and very probably defend) the one thing that people seem to really dislike in wattpad.

CLICHES.

Typical comment #1:

Ugh this story is so cliche

Typical comment #2:

I know what's going to happen next coz this story's too predictable.

Typical comment #3:

Ugh. I'm tired of reading these unrealistic stories. Why can't you make something original?

—> Author progresses to make a totally original story about a boy who has agoraphobia and a girl who never go out and only focused on her studies and thus they never meet and the girl managed to get a totally bland, slightly ugly, slightly fat, no-life gamer boyfriend that she met via online game. The boy then dies alone.

Commenter #3 doesn't even read the author's original story because it's too boring.

Okay.

OKAY.

So I was pretty much exaggerating at the very end. But I guess you get the gist.

There is a reason why cliches work.

BECAUSE ALL STORIES ARE BASICALLY THE SAME.

At least, 'good' stories usually follow some kind of structure that gives these stories some kind of a golden glow compared to other 'original stories' that never seem to go nowhere.

In fact, if you're new to writing, I will ENCOURAGE YOU to follow a tried and tested method when you write your novel, because otherwise it'd be very hard for you to finish your first novel. A lot of people in wattpad are amateurs writers, and that's why I think cliches are supposed to be FORGIVEN here, because if you're a damn good writer with lots of experience, you won't be uploading your work on wattpad. So the title of this chapter would be:

CLICHES AS YOUR STORY STRUCTURE

I know a lot will disagree with what I'm going to say, but ANY kind of fiction that I've read, watched, heard, will usually follow'The Hero's Journey' 12 steps. And even though it says 'HERO' while a lot of the main characters in wattpad seem to be 'NERDS', lemme tell you that IT'S STILL APPLICABLE.

In this case, I'm going to put the steps of Hero's Journey and compare it to The Quirky Tale of April Hale.

The Hero's Journey - April Hale Style

1. THE ORDINARY WORLD - aka the introduction of the hero. This is where a writer's job is to make sure that the readers will warm up to the hero, else they won't continue reading.

April Hale as an ordinary, awkward, and blunt 16 year old. I chose April's certain characteristic, speech pattern, and background because I'm writing with a wattpad audience in mind, and my audience, according to wattpad statistic, is 80% female, and 40% 13-18 year old. (Chapter 1)

2. THE CALL TO ADVENTURE. Something shakes the hero's world, and the hero is nudged to DO SOMETHING about the cause.

April meets Ryder, and Ryder's existence threatens April's safe world of teddy bears and fanfiction.(chapter 2)

3. REFUSAL OF THE CALL. The hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to turn away from the adventure, however briefly.

April tries her best to avoid Ryder because conversing with him means ta-ta to her safe haven.(chapter 3)

4. MEETING WITH THE MENTOR. The hero comes across a seasoned traveler of the worlds who gives him or her training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey. Or the hero reaches within to a source of courage and wisdom.

April gets encouraged by her parents to go out and have fun. (Chapter 7)

5. CROSSING THE THRESHOLD. At the end of Act One, the hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with unfamiliar rules and values.

April finally gives in and take Ryder into her room, finally getting to know a little bit about his background and his family (chapter 8)

6. TESTS, ALLIES AND ENEMIES. The hero is tested and sorts out allegiances in the Special World.

April and Ryder faces difficulties because they have problem in communications. Ryder is about to leave April because he can't get through her (chapter 14)

7. APPROACH. The hero and newfound allies prepare for the major challenge in the Special world.

April finally tells Ryder about her condition, alongside with her conscious effort to compromise so that she can be closer to him(chapter 15)

8. THE ORDEAL. Near the middle of the story, the hero enters a central space in the Special World and confronts death or faces his or her greatest fear. Out of the moment of death comes a new life.

I consider the chapter when April tells Ryder about her autism to be the Ordeal, too, because she's definitely afraid of him but she's more afraid of never knowing anything aside from her little bubble (chapter 15)

9. THE REWARD. The hero takes possession of the treasure won by facing death. There may be celebration, but there is also danger of losing the treasure again.

April and Ryder gets together (chapter 17)

10. THE ROAD BACK. About three-fourths of the way through the story, the hero is driven to complete the adventure, leaving the Special World to be sure the treasure is brought home. Often a chase scene signals the urgency and danger of the mission.

April and Ryder together, but Ryder faces something that makes him tick: his ex-girlfriend died and this shakes him. April getting into a row with his father. (chapter 21-25)

11. THE RESURRECTION. At the climax, the hero is severely tested once more on the threshold of home. He or she is purified by a last sacrifice, another moment of death and rebirth, but on a higher and more complete level. By the hero's action, the polarities that were in conflict at the beginning are finally resolved.

Ryder avoids April. April goes to Ryder's fight ring, and almost gets kidnapped. Ryder saves her, but exasperated because she still can't be there to him in the way he needs her. She proves him wrong (chapter 26)

12. RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR. The hero returns home or continues the journey, bearing some element of the treasure that has the power to transform the world as the hero has been transformed.

April is now a changed woman, and she brings home the treasure (Ryder) as she accepts how her life is changed because she IS changed (epilogue)

If this process is too complicated, you can always do the Pixar way. It's a lot simplifying it, but the beauty of storytelling is, you can make a very glamorous story out of a very simple concept, because you can customize the 'steps'.

Just fill in the blanks with your supposed story. For this example, I'm going to use Maid for Hire.

Once upon a time there was a poor girl named Andrea. Every day, she hides her poverty and tries to get by with her friends. One day she needs to find a new job. Because of that she works at Alec's house as a maid. Because of that she gets to know Alec. Until finally, she's no longer embarrassed about it.

If you're up for it, you can make it EVEN MORE DETAILED.

ONCE UPON A TIME there was a poor girl named Andrea. She's violent and hardass because her life conditions makes her. She doesn't like letting people know about her poverty. She also have a nemesis called Alec.

EVERY DAY she's able to get by by keeping people at an arm's lenght, and she maintains a comfortable social status in her high school. She and Alec maintains a friendly but violent rapport.

ONE DAY Andrea finds herself working as Alec's maid.

BECAUSE OF THAT both of them are forced to deal with each other's outside of school setting. The usually smiling Alec is actually miserable. The usually hard Andrea is actually struggling.

BECAUSE OF THAT their rapport changes. They get to know each other and find their hidden true selves actually better than their 'public masks'.

UNTIL FINALLY they both fall in love with each other.

I think this Pixar way is more applicable to making a rough outline of your story, rather than step by step of getting your story from point A to point C in details.

A lot of writers in wattpad and the stories that I read are amateur-ish. That's not saying it's not good, I'm just saying it's unpolished. These writers certainly have some kind of good sense to be writing chapters of chapters and getting the story going, but actually learning about story structure will make it easier for them to write because it will give a definition about the elements of their own stories that they've created. Reading books about writing, story structure, plot, and characters will help a lot on that.

(picture not by me: it's by PBJ publishing.com)

-

Extra tips that I've learned as a writer.

STEP ONE: HAVE AN INVISIBLE INK

Invisible Ink, by this definition is:"Invisible ink is the writing below the surface of the words." It's like when dogs know how to sense dangers, or why martial have reflexes that are faster than the wind (bad idiom). Invisible Ink will be FELT by your readers when they read your story, it's on the little things: how you think, how you observe, how you emphatize with your characters.

You are a writer, but first you are a person.

Each writer's invisible ink will be different, because we as a person have different perspective on things. @Simonesaidwhat 's works are gritty and they're full of sarcastic observations that can't be found on @kanyeinterruptedme 's more humorous approach of observation. You can't really point out at which point their writing style differs, because it can only be felt.

-

STEP TWO: ARMATURE

The armature is the backbone of your story, and generally, you have to say it out lout at the start of your story to 'set' the tone of the story. It's why some stories like 'High School Hit List' by @autheras become a hit, because it tells the readers upfront about the theme.

-

STEP THREE: TELL THE TRUTH

Face it, a boy who has everything will NOT fall in love with a girl who has nothing. A story is always best when you only say the truth. This is an abstract concept that I find hard to talk about, but let me give you an example:

In my story 'Beautiful Bastard' , Azalea is a very pretty girl with a cunning mindset and a narrative that's poisonous at best. It won't make sense then, for Azalea to see a broken guy (Kaden) just like her and not get interested. Misery brings company, and Azalea's running away from his very perfect boyfriend Matthew, because both of them are in a very different step of life.

-

STEP FOUR: USE SUPPORTING CHARACTER TO SHOW 'WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN'

Like real life, we need examples to know what we're facing. In this case, it's best to use another character as an example for the sake of the story. It adds richness and drama if you're trying to set a certain weight to your characters and plot themes.

EXAMPLE: Girl A is in love with Boy. Boy is a player.

How to show that Boy is a player?

Have Boy literally rip the heart of Girl B.

Girl B is innocent and easily gives her heart to Boy.

Girl A knows about this and realizes that she shouldn't do the mistakes Girl B does.

-

STEP FIVE: SHOW DON'T TELL

It's an age-old saying, but I still have to emphasize this.

The example that I wrote above is TELLING.

Telling that 'Alexandria got her heart broken by Kevin because she was too easy, and that's why I don't want to be easy for Kevin' IS NOT GOOD WRITING.

You need to show the readers THE PROCESS of that.

EXAMPLE:

A. She's upset because of his accusations.

B: His words rang true in her ears, but that still didn't make her feel all sort of urgency to clamp his mouth shut. She even wanted his accusations to stop more than she wanted World Peace.

-

STEP SIX: FOIL

Foil character is a character that is made to show contrast to the main character. That's probably why a lot of stories have bestfriends. A good foil is someone who can stand on her own, and someone who have his or her background, WITHOUT relying on the main character.

My foils: Hannah's sweetness to Andrea's brashness in Maid for Hire.

Bella towards April in The Quirky Tale of April Hale season 2.

If you want to read more about story structures, here are a few things that have helped me so far:

The Hero's Journey

Invisible Ink by Brian McDonald

Pixar 22 rules of storytelling

On Writing by Stephen King (he's a pantser like me so I relate a lot to his writing advice)

Lessons From a Screenplay on youtube

Every Frame is a Painting on youtube

Ted-Ed has a lot of storytelling videos

And reading a lot of books will actually give you a sense of what good story structure is. Once you've read certain amount of books, you'll find out that every single story is actually a cliche wrapped in different flavors.

I hope that my quick course helped some of you. Leave me a comment or votes. It makes all the hours typing this worth it. And if you're inclined, you can take the exercise and actually apply your story to the hero's journey or the pixar's storytelling quickfix. Comment me about your story structure, and what makes them great, despite being cliched :)

If you think that my tips can be helpful for other writers, please share it to them :) I'd love to be able to grow together as writers with you guys.