- “But that’s just a myth right? Surely it couldn’t be real?” And then two lines later whoever spoke these lines has fully accepted the existence of angels/vampires/chupacabra. This is an idiotic line because it appears in every paranormal novel ever and no one would actually say it. Someone tells you supernatural creatures are real, you don’t ask them in an uncertain voice whether they are being legit. You yell that they are crazy and you run away. Or you at least tell them it’s a myth with a bit of conviction, I mean, really.
- The all-knowing minor character who says “You know he/she loves you, right?” to Entirely Clueless Yet Devilishly Attractive protagonist. This also comes up in romantic comedies at around the forty-five minute mark. The problem I have with this is how could they know? Do people say this in the real world? Do we all have secret spidey-senses that allow us to figure out who’s hot for whom and I’m just not tapped into it? I feel that characters should only be able to inform other characters who they’re loved by if a) they are directly told by the unrequited lover, or b) they are Edward Cullen. Then again I don’t think Edward Cullen should either. There’s just too many casual observers able to figure out other people’s feelings. A bit unbelievable.
- “I don’t trust you.” “You shouldn’t.” This causes me to throw the novel across the room. 92% of all paranormal romance novels contain these words. It’s always Vulnerable Teenage Girl speaking to Powerful Supernatural Guy (who’s secretly an oldie but still looks young and hot. How is that even okay?). There’s just a lot of poor decision making generally when it comes to supernatural romances. I could write a book of advice for the lady protagonists of paranormal romance novels. Never go to a second location with a stranger, no matter how attractive they are! Preferably have age-appropriate romances with other mortals! Don’t move to dreary regional towns in America! Eat plenty of garlic!
If there are any terrible,
recurring lines of dialogue you’d like to see banished from literature, feel
free to share. (I will likely hate them too. Sorry. Strongly dislike.)
Heh! So true. I write paranormal romance (Adult, not YA), but you're right that these exist in that genre too.
ReplyDeleteOf course, in my books, the heroine is the paranormal being and/or the one with all the power because I *love* upending these tropes. ;)
I much prefer female protagonists not to always be the weak and vulnerable one!
DeleteEat garlic! Excellent advice. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe "Let's get out of here" and "We should run" really tick me off. I'm surprised how much I still read those.
Another one that irks me is "Let's split up." WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? NOTHING GOOD WILL COME OF THIS.
DeleteYou wouldn't believe how many times I've heard "you know he/she loves you, right?" in movies and books, but it doesn't bother me because I heard it ALL through high school. Sad, isn't it? I was one of those observes you could see when someone liked (or loved cause in high school nearly everyone is overemotional), but I personally never said anything. The other friends in my group did. It was weird and while the logical side of me understands exactly where you're coming from, the experiences I had make me bias to that dialogue.
ReplyDeleteBut I absolutely loathe the first dialogue. I tend to not take the book seriously anymore when I read those lines.
That line would probably annoy me a lot if I heard it in real life. It probably is believable for high-school aged characters. It's still terribly overused.
DeleteOhmygosh, I see these lines way too often in paranormal fiction/romance. I've never heard people say these things in real life! I want to reach through the words and slap the protagonist! I'm more into fantasy, where there are still people saying stupid stuff but I can pretend it's a legit question in their world.
ReplyDeleteI know! Sometimes I say "Are you serious?" out loud. The more the world of the book is like our world, the less tolerance I have for unbelievable dialogue/the more often I think things are unbelievable.
Delete"Stop, thief/criminal!" As if the thief/criminal is really going to stop. Really.
ReplyDeleteAlso, to add to the eat garlic, wear silver jewelry. That works too, right?
Silver jewelry! Definitely a good idea.
DeleteGreat post. I'm laughing right now.
ReplyDeleteI dislike #3 the most, because the protagonist ALWAYS ends up trusting the person who says she shouldn't...
Thank you. Exactly! Either she trusts him or she doesn't. (I am not a fan of untrustworthy love interests on the whole, though.)
DeleteThese are pretty much all things I know I had in earlier drafts. Luckily, I came to my senses in re-writes and actually had the characters have some sort of personality. You know. Like yelling at the fairy guy in a street and running off because OH MY SPOCK HE'S FOUR HUNDRED YEARS OLD LIKE WHAT THE HELL IS THIS.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone tends to write those cliche lines in first drafts just because we are so used to seeing them, it's just the default. It's weird to me when those lines appear in finished books, because surely different characters would react differently from time to time, as you said, a bit of personality! :)
Delete