Avoiding Cliches in Writing

Maiden in Distress, Twins separated by Magic, Love at First Sight, The Wise Magical Elder.

 Do those sound familiar? Well they should. The list above is a list of cliches.Some you might have seen before, others perhaps not. Cliches are boring, and this post is going to teach you how to avoid them.

The Dreaded Cliche

First of all, what is a cliche?
Well, a cliche is something that has been done SOOO many times, that it's predictable, and frankly, unoriginal. If you're an experienced author, with multiple books to your name and thousands of fans, then you can probably get away with a cliche or two. But if you're just starting off, people want to see something original, they want to be captivated by the uniqueness that is your story.

In order to avoid them, you need to know them. Go to your internet browser, and search 'most common cliches' I found a couple of sites for you to start with.
681 Cliches to Avoid in Your Creative Writing, 10 Common Cliches and the Powerful Truths they Hold

Cliche - it rhymes with Stay Away

Now that you know what a cliche is, let's focus on avoiding them.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to alter cliches, or flip them upside down. Maybe instead of the damsel in distress it's her brother, or even her knight. However, eventually enough people are going to be doing it that the reverse of the cliche becomes the cliche itself.

Don't use stereotypes either, the dumb blonde, the emo teenage boy, no. Just...no. Those are as predictable as cliches, and become very old very quickly.

 How can you make original content?
The answer is very simple.

Just be you

Look at what has been done, and then do something so unique, so startlingly new, that readers will be hooked. Damsel in distress turning out to be the evil sorceress? Heck yeah. Evil villain that turns out whoops the main character was being misled all along and the good guys are actually evil? I'd read that.

You need to do what has never been done before. By creating unique and original content, you'll find yourself with readers who will stick around for the redone cliches later down the road. Don't write what's already been written, write what only you can write, the unexpected, startlingly original text that only you can provide.

Do you have any more tips for avoiding cliches? I'd love to hear them!

Art Showcase -- Dragons

For the past couple of months, my computer has pretty much been dying. And I don't mean that it's taken this long to start running out of battery (that would be absolutely amazing) I  mean that if it isn't plugged in then it isn't on.

Despite that, I've been able to continue working on the novel I'm writing, and I've put some finishing touches on the character designs. I would like to show a few of them to you, and if any of you reading this are artists, I wonder if you could maybe leave a comment and let me know? I'd love to see some of your own artwork.

Basically I've got two pictures here I'm gonna show you, and I'm going to tell the defining features for their species. Let's get going shall we?

Fire Dragons: Red, Orange, and very rarely Yellow, these fire breathing dragons are fierce warriors. Their leather-like wings are often the color of their flames, and the black markings around their eyes allow them to see across great distances. Their horns start off straight, but as they get older they begin to curve. Some Fire Dragons are known as Two-Toned, and have differently colored feet and muzzles. 

Ice Dragons: White, Gray, or Black, these ice breathing dragons are better strategists than warriors. With feathered wings and ram-like horns, they are quite easy to identify. Some of them,  known as Shimmer-Wings, have pink, purple, or blue feathers. They are also the tallest of all dragon kinds.

So...yeah. I hope you enjoyed, I have been working on these guys for a while, and keep a look out for a how to draw Fire and Ice. See you all hopefully soon!

Yet another overcoming artist's block post

When you're an artist, it's really only natural that you draw what you have on your mind. For example, I read a lot of books about dragons and cats, so a lot of my pictures end up being of dragons or cats. Next time you find yourself unable to come up with something to draw, find the closest book, open it to a random page, and draw the scene that you read!

Another trick you can try, is picking a game, either board game, card game, or video game. Take something you remember from it, a character, a certain location or scene, or even just an item you need to play. Then, with that thing in mind (Or with a visual reference if you're like me and you like things to be as similar to their original as possible) take a piece of paper and a pencil and try to draw it either as close to the original as you can, or put your own spin on it!

And finally, the third trick I've come up with since the last inspirational-themed post, is...

Legos!

Whenever you find yourself bored with nothing to do and no muse to draw, either get out your own legos, or download the app Lego Digital Designer. Using legos, make something fun, cool, or just random. Then, when you're done, draw what you've created in your own way.

Anyways, that's all the tips for now. If you have any more ways to get rid of art block, leave a comment below!

A Recap of 2017

I started this blog on April First 2017. Well, that was when my first post went up anyways.
In the past year, I've missed a lot of deadlines, but I did manage to put up twenty-seven posts. So in this, my first post of 2018, I'm going to do a quick recap of some of my posts, and we'll start at the beginning.

 Awesome Art in...Paint?
The first post I published here at Jayme Rebekah, this post details how you can use the Windows included program Paint to create absolutely amazing artwork! You don't need fancy programs like Gimp or Photoshop if you've got a Windows computer, all you need is Paint.

Tools of the Trade
In this post, I discussed various tools a digital artist can use, as well as a few tips on how to use them :D

Using Minecraft SkinEdit to boost your art skills
Are you a fan of Minecraft? If you are, then this post is definitely for you.  Use SkinEdit, an app designed for creating Minecraft Skins, to raise your ability to notice and replicate small details on a limited space.

Those were my first three posts, a pretty varied selection of topics, but now I'd like to list my more focused posts. If you ever find yourself in need of inspiration, feel free to read any of the following to try and boost your muse level.
Inspiration from the Oddest Places, More Inspiration Ideas, and How to Deal with Artist's Block

And to bring this post to a close, I know there is a page for this already, but if you have an account on the website Scratch.mit.edu, then these two posts are perfect for you
How to Make a Dragon Maker (or really any maker, but I used dragons as an example) and Simple Dress Up

And that brings us to a close. I have plenty of other posts on this blog, but to list them all would take quite a while. And so, I will see you all next time!

Keep Practicing

I'm going to be honest, I am absolutely horrible at drawing in a realistic style. You guys have seen the pictures I've posted on here, and I'm pretty sure you'll agree they are in no way realistic. But I've been working on it, and the other day I managed to pull off a picture that was some sort of combination of anime(my preferred style) and realistic...ish...

What I'm trying to say is, keep working on the things you are hard at. Then, before you know it you'll be a master! Or at least halfway there ;)

I've already written quite a few posts on inspiration, so I think I'm going to cut this one short. But before I go I just want to say to everyone out there who started something and then gave up because they weren't good enough; go back to what you started. You don't have to instantly be amazing at something, take the time to learn a skill the hard way. The results will be much sweeter if you worked hard at it than instead of just half-way doing everything.

Getting used to new tools

As you get more experience drawing, you'll probably start using more and more tools. And eventually, you are going to decide to use a tool you know nothing about. So here are a two tips for using an unfamiliar tool.

Read the Manual/Take the Tutorial

Just about everything has some sort of users guide. Find it, and either read it if its text, or take the tutorial, if it's a computer app. A lot of times the guide will be able to help you out with a lot of questions you might have about the item or app. 

Experiment

Take some time to mess around with your new tool. Practice with it, and learn the best way to use it, before you apply it to any of your projects. Learn how you handle it best, and once you're comfortable with it, then you can start using it for real. 

I hope these were somewhat helpful. I'm currently taking on NaNoWriMo so my posts will be a little late this month. I probably won't get done this year, but hey at least I've got it started right?

Are you taking on NaNo? And what types of tips do you have for people who use new and unfamiliar tools?

Doing Art with Kids

Little kids can be fun. I should know, I've got seven younger siblings.
Anyways, when it's time for arts and crafts, younger people almost always want in on the fun. Here are a couple of ways to have fun, and make sure everyone gets in on it.

Don't Make it Complicated
This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when trying to do an activity with younger people. If you make it too complicated, they get lost and spiral away from what they are supposed to be doing. Instead of throwing it all at them at once, give them step-by-step instruction. Be sure to only give out the next step when they are done with the first!

You can also simplify just about anything. If what you want to do is too hard, see if you can make it easier!

Keep it Fun!
Another important thing, and perhaps just as important as the above. If something isn't fun, chances are younger people are gonna lose interest. And if they lose interest, well...you're probably going to end up with glue and glitter everywhere.

Some ways to keep it fun, might be to listen to music while you work. Or maybe talk to them, keep their interest on the project at hand.

Stay Calm

If something goes wrong, or someone doesn't follow an instruction exactly right, that's fine! Don't get mad at them for failing at something they just might not be able to do. Instead, tell them they're doing fine, and move on.

I hoped this helped, and be sure to comment on any tips you've heard of!