Family Woes

Every story has some aspect or focus on one's family. Even if it's a background issue that is merely there to define a character or give them a back story, every story is about a family. However, recently in writing there have been various issues with families that have become overdone or are just plain unrealistic.

Brother- sister love

People often talk about the special bond between twin siblings that is different from that between normal siblings. However, this has become very twisted in recent literature in the form of incest or at least borderline incestuous relationships between a male and a female twin. George R.R. Martin has used this in "A Song of Fire and Ice" with Jamie Lannister fathering his twin sister Cersei's children; it's also shown up in the various ruling houses having marriage between a brother and a sister and then again in an implied abusive relationship between Viserys and Daenerys. But this is also showing up in other forms of literature. In one fantasy story I know, a seventeen year-old twin brother and sister share a bedroom (which I later discovered is actually illegal) and have a borderline incestuous relationship with each other. In the movie adaptation of Frank Herbert's "Children of Dune," the screenwriters created an implied incestuous relationship between the twins Leto and Ghanima which I do not recall being in the original novel (though admittedly it has been a while since I read the book). In one of the Dirk Pitt novels (the exact name escapes me at the moment), Dirk's twin kids Dirk Jr. and Summer have a few awkward moments that could imply some form of incest between the two.

Now, granted, twins do have a special bond, but I seriously doubt that it is incestuous. To avoid unintentional incest between the twins, do some actual research on fraternal twins and their bonds. Or, watch how other siblings interact and use that in your writing. Whatever the case, be careful when writing about siblings, especially those who are twins.

"Luke, I am your father"

A common thing that has happened in all forms of literature and has become popular to the point of being overused is someone discovering that their parentage is not what they originally thought. This is in more literary pieces than I could count, but TV Tropes.com has an extensive list of them. This has been overdone, but what really bothers me is generally how the character reacts to this realization. Like what happened in "Star Wars," these children are shocked by the revelation but then suddenly form a bond to this parent who has not been there for them. While I imagine that there might be some desire for the two to reconcile (depending on the situation), this is not entirely realistic. I know of a guy who was adopted when he was too young to remember but when he figured it out, he had no desire to know about his real father, as he considers his adopted father to be his only real one.

I am against using this story trope in writing because it has been overused to the point of being cliche.

Just One Night

Another story trope that has been overused and is also unrealistic is when a woman gets pregnant after a one-night stand. This is seen in the "Phantom of the Opera" sequel where Christine and the Phantom have a romantic encounter shortly before her wedding, and she gets pregnant as a result of it; the sequel to "Gone with the Wind" also has a similar situation. The "Count of Monte Christo" movie has Mercedes getting pregnant by Dantes after they have sex, and the movie "August Rush" has the protagonist being conceived during a one-night stand. Granted it does happen in real life, but this has been used way too many times in stories. It would seem more believable if the relationship has gone on for longer and if there has been more than one sexual encounter between the couple.

Torn families

Given high divorce rates in our modern society and the number of single parents raising their children, it is no surprise that in modern literature it is extremely hard to find stories where children have both parents and where there is no divorce in the family. In stories where the parents are divorced, I've noticed that generally the children tend to dislike their step-parent (including any step-siblings) or that the step-parent is not a likable character (or is evil). In a few cases, the divorce is amicable and the torn family still tends to get along, but this is not common. Even in stories where there is no divorce, I have seen tension-filled families where one of the parents is a jerk but the other one won't divorce him (or her), or where the kids may be abused or generally ignored.

All of the following have become very overused in story-writing, and some of them are plain unrealistic but occur commonly anyway. I would suggest staying away from these story tropes or at least reworking them in such a way that it becomes original; this will keep your story realistic and unique without you becoming cliched.

Uneven Partnerships

Some stories focus on two people who function as a duo and are important because of it. However, writers sadly often make these partnerships very uneven so that it's most of the focus placed on one person.

In some stories, the duo is meant to be important together but one of the members is held up as the most important while the other is more of a background character. In one fantasy story I've read, a twin brother and sister are supposed to save the world, but the boy ends up becoming the most important character while his sister is forgotten and left in the background as a minor character. This uneven partnership can also be shown in personalities. In most adaptations of "Sherlock Holmes," Watson is generally portrayed as the bumbling oaf who more or less tags along while Holmes is the real star of the show. Lately, in stories dealing with partners, there is the unfortunate tendency to make one partner really smart and the other really stupid.

While uneven partnership is not necessarily a bad thing, here are some suggestions on how to improve on it. Firstly, if you're going to elevate one of the two above the other, then at least give the lower one some dignity; make him more of a helper, whose talents compliment the more important one. This would make the lower one also important, even if he or she is not destined to do all the great things. Secondly, give the partners personalities and talents so that they compliment each other. For example, one partner is the physically stronger of the two but the other has more brains.

Here are a few examples of my favorite partners seen in stories (not just literature) today:

-Guy Ritchie's movie "Sherlock Holmes." I really enjoyed how the partnership between Holmes and Watson worked. Holmes was definitely the genius of the two, but he was also eccentric and had his head way out in space a good portion of the time. Watson was the more rational person who tried to keep his friend down on earth, but he was not a glorified babysitter.

-Clive Cussler's "Dirk Pitt" novels. I've only read two of the novels, but I enjoy the interactions between Dirk and Al. The two have been best friends, and this clearly shows in their humor and how they bounce off of each other. Dirk is definitely the head of the duo, but Al is important too; without his friend, Dirk would be nothing.

-The TV show "Law and Order: SVU." One reason (among others) why I really enjoy watching SVU is the partnership between Stabler and Benson. Even though they are a male-female partnership, the two share a very close platonic relationship that has no romance at all. Stabler and Benson both get emotional and angry over different cases, and sometimes they even clash on their viewpoints. However, their differences in beliefs and personalities only strengthen their relationship and make their partnership work.

-Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." One thing that the movie adaptations really messed up with was Frodo and Sam's relationship. In the book, Frodo is treated as the more important of the duo because of his aristocratic rank (in hobbit sense) and because he carries the One Ring, and Sam is merely his servant who accompanies him. Sam is very devoted to Frodo and looks after him, but he proves his own worth elsewhere, like when he fights off Shelob, rescues Frodo from Cirith Ungol, and carries him up Mount Doom. Despite their differences in social rankings, the two share a strong platonic relationship that makes it possible for them to complete the dangerous quest to destroy the Ring.

Partnerships can be even or uneven, like they are in real life, but they function the best when the two compliment each other in more ways than one, whether it be their different perspectives, personalities, or talents, and even if one of the two is meant to more important than the other.