Over-used Tropes

I haven't had the time or peace and quiet to read these days, but I have watched a few movies and it has occurred to me that originality is dead. That's a bold statement. Not dead, maybe, but it's very very sick and has taken itself into the woods to die alone. I tried hard to keep Amaranthine from becoming a carbon copy of every other YA paranormal lovestory out there. It was hard and I had to re-write a lot of sections but I think I succeeded for the most part. However, there are some tropes that seem to pop up over and over. For example, there is the very tired, girl is special but wants to be "normal" routine. 'Moan moan, poor me, I have special powers and I hate it'. Please. No one would ever say that. Another over-used trope is the vegetarian who gets possessed by the devil and now she can't stop eating raw meat. There must be some way of showing the demon inside other than an all consuming desire to eat meat, but it seems to be the old standby with no less than 3 movies that I can think of off the top of my head that have used it. One of the most prevalent tropes is, 'the big mix up.' You know what I mean. Character A does something they would normally never do because they believe (mistakenly) that character B has done something they can't forgive. Drama ensues. I think this one is the worst because the entire conflict revolves around a mistake that could be cleared up with a 2 minute conversation. It's contrived and ultimately boring.

 I wish writers put a little more effort into coming up with something new or different instead of rehashing the same old same old. I wish the ones who did got more interest from the powers that be. Publishers want and look for stories that they know will be successful because they have worked in the past. That sold a bazillion copies and this is just like it so it will sell a bazillion copies too! Therefore that's what writers write, because they know it has a good chance of selling.

Here's to Indie writers and movie makers who buck the trend and write outside the box and continue to put new characters and stories out there for us to enjoy, even if they make no money at it.