Came across the following article at Strange Horizons, an online SF magazine, about what they don’t want to see more of – basically story ideas they have seen submitted too often.
I am fairly certain I’m not guilty of any of them, at least not recently.
A few examples from the list;
# Scientist uses himself or herself as test subject.
# Evil unethical doctor performs medical experiments on unsuspecting patient.
# In the future, criminals are punished much more harshly than they are today.
1. In the future, the punishment always fits the crime.
2. The author is apparently unaware of the American constitutional amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment, and so postulates that in the future, American punishment will be extra-cruel in some unusual way.
# White protagonist is given wise and mystical advice by Holy Simple Native Folk.
Mist and Shadows 