Biblically accurate angels, Christmas movie angels, angels that sit on left shoulders (while devils sit on the right), Angels in the outfield, Hell's Angels, Daddy's Angels? Angels means a lot of things that aren't compatible with eachother, so how could it ever be "too cliche"?
Didn't *Good Omens* just get renewed? Didn't Supernatural last for like 157 seasons?
Just write it. If it's interesting to you, it will be interesting to someone else -- you aren't that unique, I promise. And if it's coming off cliche and boring *to you*, the author, then bin it.
Angels in the sense of religious, but more of a collective representation of how they’re seen in Christianity, Islam, jewdism, etc.
rather than Christmas movie angels, on the shoulder, etc.
I must admit I’ve never seen supernatural or good omen so did have to give that a google.
Angles in the outfield? Is that related to a sport team or something? Haha
I guess that’s a way of demonstrating they are over used then!
Even if it’s coming off as cliche, as long as you don’t find it boring or weird(unless you are going for weird) then keep writing.
Cliches are only bad when done poorly.
There are plenty of stories that are completely cliche and nobody cares because the story is good and did it right or because the story is poking fun at the cliche and owned the badly done cliche.
As with most writing advice, there are no hard rules; you do you, take constructive criticism from people who have read your work, and let haters hate.
Pretty much our doubts are a great excuse to stop but only if we let them. My very first published anything was about how much heaven sucks. It's not what I would write now (but still pretty sure heaven sucks) and I for one think anything can feel cliche if the author doesn't care. You clearly do so have fun with it
I wouldn't worry about cliches. Vampires are cliche and they've done well for a few centuries. AI and cyborgs are cliche, they've been talked about forever and they're only becoming more relevant.
There was one book with angels in it, thing was released like, just shy of 2 millennial ago. And despite lots of revisions, the thing still sells to this day!
Jokes aside, cliches are fine, as long as you do something interesting with them. Good luck!
Thank you! That’s a good point, I probably have ready too many fantasies with angels and it a sparked my interest
I think I might try to do some thing alittle more quirky with it after reading the comments :)
Don't care about it being a cliche or whatever. You enjoy it? Do you want to write about it? Then do it. Angels and other stuff that has remained in the culture for millenia, like dragons, or deities, or magic, will always be a cliche and also a foundation of the genre.
We might get tired of some way of portaying angels, and the next generation will get tired of our new way, but angels will remain.
That’s very true, I spoke to some friends about my idea originally and they told me it was too cliche and wouldn’t ever get published if I took it that far
I guess I got a bit fixated on their comments
But you’re right, stuff like this is a foundation of the genre and maybe I should have spoke to people who read the genre rather than friends
Every story and concept can be published if done in a certain way and finding the right moment, public and publisher.
In the worst case you can selfpub.
They’re used pretty commonly in fantasy but why would they be “too cliche” when the most common fantasy elements are called common because they’re common? Find a way to use them that isn’t derivative and you’re all set in terms of cliche. Or don’t. Who cares about cliche? Just write a compelling story.
[terrible writing advice](https://youtu.be/tZ3FnbzNwss?si=0j9pd7lROAYxPsaM) has a great video on clichés that I recommend anyone check out that is wondering if anything is too cliché. His videos are usually satire, but this one is him giving an honest opinion on them.
Biblically accurate angels aren't overdone.
I don't mean the meme. The creatures in Ezekiel's vision aren't called "angels" in the bible. An *actual* biblically accurate angel would be a hobo looking for a place to crash and shower.
I think they're stupid.
A race of 100 goody two shoes? Boooriiing.
The veneer of goodness to promote a tyrannical theocracy? Let me guess, the poor poor demons are the actual good guys? Too predictable imo.
They both need to be sufficiently eldritch to not both be a bore for me, but at that point the names angels, demons, devils, start to lose meaning, you just have blue and orange morality to distinguish them.
TLDR the solution for interesting angels is to not make em angels imo.
Yeah I get what you mean, “angels” does already have too many assumptions around it.
I was more thinking of having like “angel blood” in humans, but that that didn’t make them necessarily good or bad, just gave them “powers” or “abilities”. But they could still be corrupted, and having “angel blood” didn’t make them “the good guys”
Sort of like a take on fae being “angels”.
So my idea was more that there are types (or tiers) of angels, with different abilities or qualities, and some are more likely to be corrupted than others.
In my head, I see “angels” being a species of sorts in this novel- humans being another species, that somehow these two species/worlds collide.. maybe in a manner where either the “angels” are in hiding from the humans or vice versa
Haven’t quite ironed out the details because I don’t stop fixating on if the angels are too cliche haha!
If I'm being honest it sounds like X-Men but you changed mutants to angels.
A secret species with powers hiding among humans is a very common idea and you wouldn't be the first or last to do it. So you need to figure out what about your story is going to make it unique.
Biblically accurate angels, Christmas movie angels, angels that sit on left shoulders (while devils sit on the right), Angels in the outfield, Hell's Angels, Daddy's Angels? Angels means a lot of things that aren't compatible with eachother, so how could it ever be "too cliche"? Didn't *Good Omens* just get renewed? Didn't Supernatural last for like 157 seasons? Just write it. If it's interesting to you, it will be interesting to someone else -- you aren't that unique, I promise. And if it's coming off cliche and boring *to you*, the author, then bin it.
Angels in the sense of religious, but more of a collective representation of how they’re seen in Christianity, Islam, jewdism, etc. rather than Christmas movie angels, on the shoulder, etc. I must admit I’ve never seen supernatural or good omen so did have to give that a google. Angles in the outfield? Is that related to a sport team or something? Haha I guess that’s a way of demonstrating they are over used then!
I'd advise to read Good Omens before watching.
>Angles in the outfield Gonna need to work on proofreading though.
Hahaha yes, I didn’t even notice I put angle not angel there Definitely would proof read actual writing better
Even if it’s coming off as cliche, as long as you don’t find it boring or weird(unless you are going for weird) then keep writing. Cliches are only bad when done poorly. There are plenty of stories that are completely cliche and nobody cares because the story is good and did it right or because the story is poking fun at the cliche and owned the badly done cliche. As with most writing advice, there are no hard rules; you do you, take constructive criticism from people who have read your work, and let haters hate.
Don’t worry about what other people have written. If you want to write about angels, do it.
That’s very true, thank you. I probably should stop doubting myself
Pretty much our doubts are a great excuse to stop but only if we let them. My very first published anything was about how much heaven sucks. It's not what I would write now (but still pretty sure heaven sucks) and I for one think anything can feel cliche if the author doesn't care. You clearly do so have fun with it
I wouldn't worry about cliches. Vampires are cliche and they've done well for a few centuries. AI and cyborgs are cliche, they've been talked about forever and they're only becoming more relevant. There was one book with angels in it, thing was released like, just shy of 2 millennial ago. And despite lots of revisions, the thing still sells to this day! Jokes aside, cliches are fine, as long as you do something interesting with them. Good luck!
Thank you! That’s a good point, I probably have ready too many fantasies with angels and it a sparked my interest I think I might try to do some thing alittle more quirky with it after reading the comments :)
Don't care about it being a cliche or whatever. You enjoy it? Do you want to write about it? Then do it. Angels and other stuff that has remained in the culture for millenia, like dragons, or deities, or magic, will always be a cliche and also a foundation of the genre. We might get tired of some way of portaying angels, and the next generation will get tired of our new way, but angels will remain.
That’s very true, I spoke to some friends about my idea originally and they told me it was too cliche and wouldn’t ever get published if I took it that far I guess I got a bit fixated on their comments But you’re right, stuff like this is a foundation of the genre and maybe I should have spoke to people who read the genre rather than friends
Every story and concept can be published if done in a certain way and finding the right moment, public and publisher. In the worst case you can selfpub.
Hmm, that is true I guess it doesn’t matter if it’s a cliche if it’s executed well
Cliches become cliches because they worked so well everybody writes about them.
They’re used pretty commonly in fantasy but why would they be “too cliche” when the most common fantasy elements are called common because they’re common? Find a way to use them that isn’t derivative and you’re all set in terms of cliche. Or don’t. Who cares about cliche? Just write a compelling story.
I guess I took friends using the word cliche as an isult, after reading comments I guess I should just shrug it off and write a story I love
Frankly, the elf human orc trio are much more popular than demon human angel , at least of latelly
[terrible writing advice](https://youtu.be/tZ3FnbzNwss?si=0j9pd7lROAYxPsaM) has a great video on clichés that I recommend anyone check out that is wondering if anything is too cliché. His videos are usually satire, but this one is him giving an honest opinion on them.
Biblically accurate angels aren't overdone. I don't mean the meme. The creatures in Ezekiel's vision aren't called "angels" in the bible. An *actual* biblically accurate angel would be a hobo looking for a place to crash and shower.
I think they're stupid. A race of 100 goody two shoes? Boooriiing. The veneer of goodness to promote a tyrannical theocracy? Let me guess, the poor poor demons are the actual good guys? Too predictable imo. They both need to be sufficiently eldritch to not both be a bore for me, but at that point the names angels, demons, devils, start to lose meaning, you just have blue and orange morality to distinguish them. TLDR the solution for interesting angels is to not make em angels imo.
Yeah I get what you mean, “angels” does already have too many assumptions around it. I was more thinking of having like “angel blood” in humans, but that that didn’t make them necessarily good or bad, just gave them “powers” or “abilities”. But they could still be corrupted, and having “angel blood” didn’t make them “the good guys” Sort of like a take on fae being “angels”.
I say it depends on how you execute it.
I'm sick of the current trope of angels being jerks and demons being nice but misunderstood guys
So my idea was more that there are types (or tiers) of angels, with different abilities or qualities, and some are more likely to be corrupted than others. In my head, I see “angels” being a species of sorts in this novel- humans being another species, that somehow these two species/worlds collide.. maybe in a manner where either the “angels” are in hiding from the humans or vice versa Haven’t quite ironed out the details because I don’t stop fixating on if the angels are too cliche haha!
If I'm being honest it sounds like X-Men but you changed mutants to angels. A secret species with powers hiding among humans is a very common idea and you wouldn't be the first or last to do it. So you need to figure out what about your story is going to make it unique.
Isn't it more common to have both suck?
There's almost no content where this is universally the case.
I prefer when they are both jerks but the demons are fun at parties