FindCliches.com is a website that lists clichés. Most interesting to authors and writers will be the sections covering overused plots including TV sitcom clichés, science fiction clichés and detective novel clichés. Here are a few overused plots from the science fiction category:
Earth is threatened by an asteroid, and a space mission is mounted to save the planet.
The Bad Guy travels through time to kill the Hero in his childhood, or to prevent him from ever being born.
People connect their brains directly to computers and get dependent on them.
A great hunter decides that humans are the most entertaining prey of all, and visits Earth to bag a few.
Aliens put someone on trial for the sins of humanity.
