Forum: Author Hangout

isekai cliches

Sage of the Forlorn Path 🚫

I'm suddenly having a hard time with this new story and I need some advice. It's an isekai story, which, for those not into the anime/manga/light novel culture, consists of someone from the modern world being somehow transported to a magical Medieval world, and have to make sense of the new world while applying their modern thinking and knowledge. They're my favorite storyline, and in Asia, they're a dime a dozen right now.
The problem is that isekais are breeding grounds of cliches, and on one hand, I want to be original and not just use the same ideas over and over again, but on the other hand, simply subverting expectations isn't necessarily good (The Last Jedi would be a perfect example of that). Right now the main character is in a group, and I want to kill a character off, and I want their death to matter, but it's kind of a situation where someone is expected to die, and I feel like if I give them backstory or try to get to know them, I'll just be raising a giant flag to the readers that they're going to die. I've actually been trying to limit the amount of backstory and development the other characters get, because they're throwaway characters and I feel like I'd just be shoveling drama on for the sake of drama, and I really want to avoid the whole "emotional journey" schtick, but then I can't really make them "real".

Replies: Remus2 REP Uther_Pendragon

karactr 🚫

This sounds like one of those cases where you need to let your characters take control of your story. Forget all about where you thought you wanted it to go. Give them control and see where they take it.

IF you have to, delay the updates until the characters and you can agree on a plot.

Replies: StarFleet Carl

StarFleet Carl 🚫

@karactr

characters take control

Gee, how many of us have had THAT ever happen ... :)

I'm on Chapter 3 of my next work and they're already going places I hadn't considered.

Remus2 🚫

@Sage of the Forlorn Path

Trying to avoid clichés in that genre would be like trying to avoid oranges in an orange grove. Suggest just flowing with the story without infiltration of preconceptions.

REP 🚫
Updated:

@Sage of the Forlorn Path

One way to develop your character and not hint at his future death is to have his friends reminisce about him after his death using flashbacks. Hard to do effectively, but it is possible.

Replies: Vincent Berg

Vincent Berg 🚫

@REP

One way to develop your character and not hint at his future death is to have his friends reminisce about him after his death using flashbacks. Hard to do effectively, but it is possible.

It's always tricky, developing a soon-to-die character, but the key is, to treat him as a regular character, letting the readers get to know him before you, the author, whacks him!

In this scenario, that's likely to be difficult, so I'd set up a group discussion among the warriors, facing an apparent fight, where they start discussion their various perspectives, revealing aspects of their lives and personalities. Since they're all aware that stye might die soon, they'd hope to convey anything they'd want passed on, once they had, but since it's an open dialogue with a variety of different characters, there are no 'gotcha' giveaways, simply a realization that any of them may die soon.

Radagast 🚫

Or he can know his time of death, like the witches on Discworld or Hodor in GoT. Or make him wear a red shirt. Or name him Joe Buckley if you are submitting it to Baen.

Replies: Honey_Moon eroticafan

Honey_Moon 🚫

@Radagast

Or he can know his time of death, like the witches on Discworld

I cried over Granny Weatherwax.

Replies: karactr

karactr 🚫

@Honey_Moon

I cried over Granny Weatherwax.

Why? Esme had a GREAT life that she lived exactly how she wanted.

I cried over Sir Terry Pratchett.

eroticafan 🚫

@Radagast

John Ringo would be proud to know Buckley is known in the halls of SoL

Uther_Pendragon 🚫

@Sage of the Forlorn Path

_Connecticut Yankee_ by Mark Twain?

You could kill him and then have somebody remember the back story.

Radagast 🚫

As the Swarm Universe is roughly based on his Posleen books, I would not be surprised if he has visited here.

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Forum: Author Hangout

isekai cliches

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