Clichés

[logan_run]

HOW do you avoid clichés when writing??

 

[chrispenycate]

Checks carefully that we are in 'writing challenges', and the bit where word limits are the rule.

Why bother?A well-turned cliché can save thousands of words (possibly not in a seventy-five worder), transmitting a recognised idea that all will recognise. Insisting on maximised originality throughout means you've got that many fewer words/symbols left for the punch line which draws your idea together as a finale.

There is frequently a reason why clichés have become clichéd - James Joycing them Ulysseswise, just to avoid similarities with other writers, requires explanations for everything, and while it might be admired a 'clever', doesn't improve the reading experience for many potential enthusiasts.

 

[Elckerlyc]

I generally agree with @chrispenycate. But I would advise to use them sparingly and deliberate. Anything else may let you look as a writer who either is lazy or lacks imagination.
Having said that, even when you try to avoid them, you can not always be certain of what others consider to be a cliche. There's a grey area.

 

[Dave]

I would advise to use them sparingly and deliberate. Anything else may let you look as a writer who either is lazy or lacks imagination.

Unless it is done humorously for comedy.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

"The cliché is better than the phrase which does not work." - Gene Wolfe.

 

[Elckerlyc]

Unless it is done humorously for comedy.

in other words... deliberate.

 

[Elckerlyc]

"The cliché is better than the phrase which does not work." - Gene Wolfe.

And who can beat Gene Wolfe in wording or phrasing? [that's a rhetoric question, but correct me if I'm wrong]

 

[Luiglin]

I've often thought that that actions speak louder than words and, as such, you should never judge a book by its cover. For some, ignorance is bliss and yet what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I hop that helps.

 

[zmunkz]

There are a lot of kinds of clichés. Clichés in the form of tropes can be an effective tools as long, as you understand what they’re doing for you and where they can trip you. Clichés of phrasing are possibly less useful, but as long as you follow the above advice of being deliberate, I think you’re fine.

In fact, I think “deliberate“ is the key methodology for utilizing almost all writing tools.

 

[Cathbad]

I wouldn't recognize a cliché if it bit me on the arse!

 

[Steve Harrison]

A cliché - in order to become a cliché - must be something instantly recognisable to most readers. It is therefore an absolutely wonderful tool for a writer.

 

[sknox]

A ciché is a word or phrase or idea that's been overused. Trouble is, what's old hat to one reader is new to another.

It's probably worth worrying about (not necessarily avoiding) clichés when dealing with a professional critic or other experienced reader because you know they've seen it all. Beyond that, all you really can do is trust your own ears. If it sounds old and tired to you, find another way. Besides, chances are very good that the phrase or scene that you think is oh so very clever, is already someone else's cliché.

 

[tinkerdan]

The bad thing about a cliche is that it is similar to a quote; however often can't be attributed to any source. This makes a lack originality and no way to admit it by citing the source. However because it's a cliche there is a likelihood most readers will figure it out.

These days; however a cliche can be something that consistently the same without much creative thought behind them. Some might say Apocalyptic Zombie novels are so cliche. Or even YA Fantasy fiction is so cliche. They may not be correct, but I've heard it said.

 

[Cathbad]

People use clichés all the time. Thus, I see no problem with using one or two in one's work.

 

[Finch]

This subject is an old chest nut . But at the end of the day, Cliche are best avoided , unless you can't.

 

[tinkerdan]

A cliche is a terrible thing to waste.

 

[Dave]

Well, you can’t please everyone.

 

[Margaret Note Spelling]

I've always thought of cliches as habits of phrase, things we pick up as we go along and spring to mind unthinking when we write--for example, "H'm, my character is really hungry, how do I express that?" and the phrase "he was as hungry as a horse" occurs to me, because I've heard it so many times. Which would mean that the use of cliches is not so much good or bad as a phrase in itself, but rather by what the use of it says about the writer. Are they using this phrase because it truly, in their opinion, makes the story better by its being there? Or is it a fill-in for, alternatively, showing precisely how hungry the character was by having him drooling over a doughnut? (Which may not be any better, but at the very least we readers can conclude the author has thought about the effects of character's hunger a little bit more than if they'd left it at "he was as hungry as a horse." They certainly may have thought about it just as much...but the reader would be given no reason to believe so.)

Habits of phrase mark us as writers in ways we have to be aware of--we all have habits of writing, different ones depending on where we come from. (Just a week ago, in a post here, I unthinkingly used the non-American phrase, "putting the wind up" somebody, only because I consumed enough British literature and television when I was young to make that a stock phrase in my vocabulary. I've never heard anybody in real life use it.) Catchphrases, jargon, idioms, and slang--we all use them, we just have to be aware of what they are. And perhaps think about them before we use them a little bit more than everything else--just as we want to think very carefully about the habits of behavior we've picked up before putting them on display to the world.

 

[Vladd67]

What we need are some new cliches.

 

[Dave]

I can see that a few people here have a bee in their bonnet about this subject.