It's OK to use a cliché.

No, there isn't a missing negative in the above sentence.

No, the previous sentence doesn't have one negative too many.

So what do I mean going against countless composition teachers, textbooks and fundamental rules? Well clichés can refer to short over-used phrases ("Stubborn as a mule" for example) which should be avoided. You can be much more creative: tell an anecdote to illustrate, create your own phrase, or even leave the inexpressive adjective and let the plot fill in the blanks. With overuse, the canned phrase becomes no better than another adjective.

But often people classify characters, plot devices or even whole story lines as cliché (which is incorrect in itself, Merriam-Webster states a cliché is nothing more than a "trite phrase or expression"). By these standards there is little interesting ground left to cover. Your vampire can't be a callous lord, nor can he be a tortured soul trying to reconcile with his nature, nor can he live in secret wanting nothing more than to be left alone.

Just because a concept was used once to great success doesn't leave it barren. Just because each individual concept is nothing new, doesn't mean the result is cursed to banality. If such were reality, nothing new would have been written after Shakespeare. It doesn't matter if the elements are similar, provided the end product is different.

The novel Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton is an excellent example. The plot is nothing new: the offspring of a small noble cheated of their inheritance, the daughters who have no money for a dowry falling into relationships which are hopeless, religion comes in conflict with city life, the lost heiress brought up on the streets is found. The novel is well-written, but even that wouldn't be enough to make it more than just another fantasy story. So why was this book a success? the characters are all dragons with corresponding customs and traits.

Use a variety of plot fragments and characters. Let things start in one manner and let them progress into another. As long as you don't duplicate another work and can knit everything together, it will work out fine (and the only challenge left will be drawing/writing well enough to bring out the ideas). There's no reason why a few commonly used concepts can't be written up finer than frog's hair.