Hey everyone! How is summer treating you?

I did not go to public schools, so I do not know whether certain high school tropes are accurate to real life. The dumb jocks, condescending cheerleaders, the glasses wearing nerds looked down upon by other students . . . I do not know if any of these reflect actual high school students. One recurring trope that appears in a lost of media is the Mean Girl.

Almost every book, television show, or film set during high school features a mean girl or group of mean girls determined to make the main character's life miserable. The quintessential portrayal of this archetype is in Tina Fey's Mean Girls. The girl(s) is almost always the most popular in school despite treating fellow students like trash. Often, the girl is fair haired (or, if there is a group, at least one is), wears pink, and is pretty wealthy. Usually they target the main character (also almost always a girl) because she either attracts the attention of their boyfriend or begins to "steal" popularity. This trope has been used to death and rarely features nuances or changes to the Mean Girl stock character.

If you want to include a character like this but fear seeming cliché? Fear not! Like any trope, there are ways to bring new life to it.

1. Give an understandable/actual reason for them to dislike the main character.

It's perfectly acceptable for the MG to be petty. Bullies often are petty. However, most people would have some reason, even a weird, random, or seemingly minor reason to harass a character. This reason should be evident in the story. The MG almost always singles out and harasses the main character because she fears the protagonist will steal her boyfriend (which the main character always does) or is afraid the main character will become the prom queen/sea queen/homecoming queen instead of her (which usually happens). Try mixing things up. The MG can still be catty and jealous, but I would suggest taking their rivalry in a new (and hopefully more interesting) direction.

2. Don't make the MG popular.

I've never seen this done before, but one way to add a fresh twist to this trope would be to make the MG the one controlling the school from behind the scenes. As in, it doesn't look like there's a "queen of the school" but she secretly keeps everyone in their place. So, she appears to be a nice (or mean) pretty girl in the background of the school's social scene. In reality, though, she is the one who makes people do what she wants through subtle manipulation and threats. She could be the Varys or Littlefinger of high school.

3. Don't "defeat her" in the end.

Usually, the point of the story isn't dethroning the Mean Girl. The theme of the story and the protagonist's goal/endpoint revolves around gaining self-respect or confidence, learning to appreciate friends, not losing oneself, etc. In these stories, though, writers seem to feel that the protagonist's journey is only complete if she gets the boy and/or humiliates the Mean Girl. In real life, though, those who hurt you don't always get what they deserve. Allowing the Mean Girl to win would be a great message/learning experience for mature readers.

Those are what I consider to be the best ways to subvert the Mean Girls trope. A lot of Disney Channel Original movies from the 2010s are great examples of what not to do. Tina Fey's comedy, Mean Girls, is an excellent example of ways to breathe new life into this tired trope.

Who are your favorite Mean Girls? Let us know down below!

"How much description is too much?"

In part, it depends on your genre. Readers will come to different genres with different expectations. For example, you are more likely to get away with a five-line paragraph of pure setting description in high fantasy than in the action genre, because readers who pick up high fantasy on a regular basis are likely to expect, and enjoy, longer descriptions.

That said, there's a saying that if it doesn't serve the story, you should cut it. Description can all too easily turn into purple prose, very ornamental but frankly pointless. Generally, the less important a setting is to the story, or the less time spent in it, the less it should be described.

Writer gurus fuss about white-wall syndrome, but honestly? I think it's over-hyped. If the readers know what's going on, and have a general idea of where the character is, they don't need an exhaustive . Some people can't even create mental visuals, and those who can will just fill in the blanks on their own, assuming that since you didn't give them much info up front, it wasn't too important anyway.

One good tip when you do need to share your character's surroundings is to incorporate description into the action. Feed it in slowly, interspersed with what the character is doing or thinking — have him/her notice the height of a proximate cliff one moment, exchange dialogue with a friend, and perhaps then stumble on the rough, patchy grass. You can paint a picture for your reader slowly as well as in a single, solid block of text.

This approach can also help to set the tone of your scene — for instance, if you have a character walking through a seedy section of town at night, this is the perfect time to depict both her apprehension and the ominous appearance of the buildings around her, because the setting actually affects her (and in turn, hopefully, the reader's) mood.

And a final suggestion: when you are writing long descriptive paragraphs, pay attention to sentence length and structure, so you're not just rambling or falling prey to monotony. Also try to zero in on unique, truly eye-catching details, something to yank your reader's interest and not make them go, "Oh, another paragraph about beautiful elven forests..."

TFF TOP FIVE

Luminous by jeidafei

Blood Rider by NumberFourTheNumber

The Fairest by GoldFantasy

Aurora by Leed21

The Relic Guild by Edward_Cox

COUNCELOR'S SANCTUARY

What is one thing you cannot stand about any of your characters?

What is the one word you think your protagonist uses the most, and why?

Compare your antagonist to your favorite literary antagonist. How are they similar or different?

Your characters enter a coffee shop. What do they order?

What is the goal of your novel? How long will it take your character(s) to reach their goal, if they ever do?