Been there-done that Syndrome

Tropes are inevitable. As I have stated before the best of them are only t here as an example, a broad stroke of the paintbrush if you will. need a castle on a lonely hill. Insert Trope A Here.

Need a Dragon: Yeah. Actually, just don't. I love dragons. The thing is, I keep running cross stories (no, I'm not mentioning names) where the dragons are, well, not very tough. If you're going to invoke a gigantic fire breathing ANYTHING into your stories, said beasts should be the shit everything else wants to run from.

Orcs. they're cool. I get it. Trolls, ogres, ors, goblins. All cool. Make your own armies of scary stuff instead. that's my suggestion.

Metal bikinis. I'm a guy. I LOVE eye candy. Unless your character is suicidal, she ain't wearing a metal bikini to a sword fight. I will forgive Red Sonja, but only because she's actually tough enough to get away with it and she did it first (Or close enough. I'm not about to research the subject.). The same of men in furry loincloths. I'm talking Conan here. Go read a few of the books and stories by Howard. It's amazing how often he wore pants, shirts and even armor.

Switch does not wear metal Bikinis. She kills the silly things that give her that many openings in their defenses.

Snark Attacks. There's a time and a place. Two cops walking through a crime scene where the bad guys are gone I might forgive a little gallows humor. Two cops in a  gunfight with fifteen paramilitary psychos carrying heavy artillery? (Or the fantasy equivalent thereof) Not so much.

A very wise friend once told me when I was starting out that the best way to avoid imitating someone else was to write something new. What a lovely, simple and flawless logic.