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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/20917
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/20917
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Depending on the tone of your book, you can make that work for you by making subsequent text sarcastic, funny, meta, or the intro to a flashback.

> I had destroyed the earth. Okay, it was just a bit of dirt in a test tube. And I didn't really destroy it; I just washed it down the drain. Fine, I was cleaning up after my lab partner. Yes, she ditched me. _Again._

 

> I hurtled to my death. This one would probably hurt a bit more than the last three; Reichenbach Falls was taller than the roof of the hospital. Still, there was nothing for it but to wait until I hit, regenerated, and woke up at the beginning of the next story. What pastiche writers lacked in originality they certainly made up for in persistence.

 

> I had destroyed the earth. At last. A ragged cheer rose from the survivors behind me, growing and swelling until the air was so thick with hosannas and applause and shouts of relief that I thought I might go deaf. And if you think that sounds strange, you should hear how I got here.

 

> "I have destroyed the earth! And now I will go on to wipe out the sun! And the —" Gorbo's ranting was cut short by a quick blast from Captain Amazing's laser pistol. "I hate it when they brag," she grumbled.

And so on. If you can't rewrite the cliché, subvert it.

Original score: 5