5. The multi-race bar room.

The 'Inn at Bree' gambit. It happens a lot in science fiction a-la Star Wars, but it is just as common in the fantasy genre. After a thirsty day on the road, our heroic stable boy and his companions will visit an inn. Inside, there will be representatives of different races from the world created for the story. The innkeeper will always be fat and jolly, there will always be a silent stranger in a dark corner, and someone will sing a silly song giving the writer his chance to show off his invention of other-worldly lyrics. How about having a human trying to get a drink in a dwarf-only bar, or vice-versa? There should be plenty of opportunity to add tension there.

6. Discovering hidden family truths.

The 'Ugly Duckling' gambit. The stable boy gets to the final climactic battle, only to find that his adversary is his father/mother/brother/sister etc. People say: 'It was kept from you to protect you' and 'You cannot kill me, I'm your father'. This has been so overused, it even turns up across genres: witness Luke Skywalker confronting Darth Vader for example. A variation is to have the hero find that he is suddenly a prince, or even king. This says more about the writer's own desires than it does about the plot. Wishful-thinking fantasies do not usually make strong stories. But what would happen if the hero already knew his background, but his adversary didn't?

The next time you read a fantasy story, count how many of the above are still in use. I think you'll be surprised. It's even worse in film and television, where all of them can occur in any one movie, and often do. Just look at Star Wars - it contained most of them, and still made huge amounts of money.

And that's also why the above should be taken with a pinch of salt. Clichés still have their place in popular culture. Just don't take that as an excuse to use them yourself. At least not too often.

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