asks: I've noticed that something I struggle with is coming up with authentic ways for two characters to have their first encounter. I can't count how many times I've done the classic "bumping-into-someone-and-BOOM-they're-in-love" trick and it's getting kind of boring. So, do you have any tips for non-cliche ways that two characters can first meet??

In movies and TV shows, the "meet cute" refers to the scene in which the two people who will form a romantic couple meet for the first time. I will use this phrase even though we're talking about a written story.

If you're trying to avoid cliches, then you have to first acknowledge which meet cutes are overdone. Maybe it's two people meeting in a bar, or someone hiring a sexy carpenter, or a new student being introduced in class. Now change something about this overdone scene to make it less common. Maybe instead of a bar it's a smoothie shop. Maybe instead of a carpenter he's an accountant. Maybe instead of meeting in class they meet on a field trip.

Sometimes we can't avoid cliches because the scene is crucial to the story. Also, some cliches are overdone because they are common in real life (like meeting in a bar or in class). That doesn't mean you have to twist your story into something unrecognizable just to avoid the cliche. You can add to it instead. Maybe they meet in a bar after a fight breaks out. Maybe the sexy carpenter is being hired to build something strange. Maybe the class the student is being introduced in is an after-school karate class. In other words, take an element from the cliche and embellish it so it feels less common.

There will be times you don't want to go through such efforts to avoid the cliche. Some cliches exist in stories because they are popular tropes that people love to read. In these cases, just do it well. Have the two people bump into each other in the totally expected way, BUT don't do the "BOOM they're in love". True love takes time to cultivate and develop, and it's these nuances that differentiate one cliched story from another. Give the characters personality. Make them relatable or quirky or fun. It's the interactions with each other that brings the story to life, despite the common meet cute.

Some chapters you might like to review to help with this:

Chapter 4: Create Relatable Characters

Chapter 6: Add Tension

Chapter 17: Create Interesting Dialogue

Question 17: Breaking cliches