Anyway...
Losing Consciousness
I'll start by saying that some really good stories (books, movies, television shows) incorporate fainting, blacking out, getting drugged, and other ways of losing consciousness, so this doesn't make a story an automatic zero. Rather, it's all about why the writer chose to have this happen to his/her character. As with every trope, there are times when fainting fits and times when it just makes the writer look desperate.
Having a character lose consciousness is an easy peasy way for writers to transition to another scene. Think about the fainting scenes that you've read/seen. Most of the time, the chapter or scene ends, or the screen goes black. Then it switches to that character waking up (or a "meanwhile" storyline before the character awakens.)
I am guilty of using this cliché in my first two novels. Thinking back, I used these moments to provide a clean break in the story. Both of my characters had to wake up from being conked out (well, one fainted from lack of sleep, the other from lack of oxygen), reassess their respective situations and figure out what the heck to do next. (The sleepless one had to face the anxiety that was giving her insomnia; the other one had to find safety so she wouldn't be choked again.)
I'm generally not a fan of "the room was spinning, and everything was going black," even in my own writing, but some stories can pull this off. At least I understand why it's such a desirable cliché. Anyone agree or disagree?
Can you think of any novels, TV shows or movies that do this successfully? How about unsuccessfully? If I continue with this series, do you have a favorite cliché that you'd like featured?
