Annoying Things in Scripts (Part One)

If you read enough stories of any type, certain cliches, genre conventions and repetitions of ideas begin to stand out. Since popular entertainment can sometimes be simply finding an interesting new way of telling an old story, it's not necessary for a Reader to point out every time a Writer is merely recycling old ideas. With a couple creative elements, "everything old is new again."

But that doesn't mean everything needs to be joyously embraced by a Reader. In my little part of the world, there can be many things that stand out as being repeated so many times by so many Writers that I just want to say "enough." I realize I'm screaming into the abyss (particularly with one of them, for it's too popular a situation in its genre to trash can), but I'm bringing them up anyhow.

First is the horror film set up of (basically, with only minor deviations), "six college-age people travel to a remote location where their cell phones don't work and they're attacked by..." Fill in the last part yourself. It can be one of their own party, a monster, an alien, a serial killer, an animal...you know, you've all seen this story, probably more than a dozen times. Obviously, this is a pretty standard set up for a horror story and many more films will be made from it, but why not a little variation at times? Find a creative way to put the characters in a location teeming with people, but no one can help. Have their cell phones work, but help can't come. Something to make it more than just the basic set up.

Then there are certain situations that pop up in way too many romantic comedies. First of all, I'd like say that I generally like romantic comedies. As long as they make me laugh a few times and I feel that the two folks belong together, I find them a satisfying experience. That said, can we get past using "the big lie" as a plot point? You know, one character tells a lie to the other for some reason in the beginning of the story, doesn't come clean when they could in the middle and the other person gets really angry as things just seem to be heating up and breaks off the relationship. Of course, this monumental disruption to the relationship is typically smoothed over about twenty pages later, so I just never buy into the whole "you've destroyed my trust in you" speech when it's delivered. Walking hand-in-hand with this is the fact that the "wronged" party never allows the liar to explain. Usually, there is an understandable reason why the person lied, usually having to do with the fact that the circumstances of their relationship have changed over time, but the wronged person won't listen. This is basically just false conflict. A Writer who can't think of anything else to do, so they fall back on having one person storm off. Be creative. Try harder.

That and having one character see the other in an embrace of some sort, jump to the wrong conclusion but not try to find out the truth. That's just another lame, too-easy-to-do plot turning point that makes my eyes roll into the back of my head. It's especially disappointing if the script has me hooked up until then.

Basically, don't fall back on overused cliches if you can possibly avoid them. There's always the chance someone out there has avoided them and your script is being passed over because they've captured my imagination with something new, not something overused.