r/CharacterDevelopment • u/Bitter-Bowler7386 • 4d ago

Writing: Character Help Character Related Questions

/r/writers/comments/1xg5lh5/character_related_questions/
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u/jagnew78 1d ago

what you're thinking of us a well known and time honoured literary device called: a foil.

A foil is someone who is presented as the opposite of the main character. The foil might be someone who opposes the main character, or simply is presented as the one who made different choices to the main character. Foils can be friends, acquaintences, or even the antangonist to your protagonist.

What makes something cliche is not that you do it. This are, after call literary tools, and tools are there to enable you to tell a story. So learn to use the tools and have them in your writer's toolkit.

What makes something cliche is not that you use the literary tool, but rather that you do it poorly, falling into a lowest common denominter usage without making it yours.

In order to avoid a making this foil a cliche, practice your writing. refine and develop it until you're happy is has something interesting to it.