How do I find clichés in my writing? I know some are easy to spot, but how can I be sure if I've found them all?
Finding cliches
- Thread starter MercyWrites
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Clichés are a matter of opinion, to some degree, but the really lame ones stick out like sore thumbs (that's a cliché, for instance). There's no master list. They also evolve with regularity. "Out of the box" is one of the more obvious recent ones. The best way to catch them is to have a really astute beta reader.
caw
caw
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Well, in terms of descriptions---try not to describe something according to a way that most people would think of--be creative. Dont use common metaphors or descriptions.
Of course, cliches can exist in plot as well. Make sure your story feels unique, and make sure that it isnt obvious how everything is going to turn out.
Deux ex Machina is one of the biigger fallicies and is quite cliches: AKA when something utterly random comes in at the last minute and saves the day/conflict.
Of course, cliches can exist in plot as well. Make sure your story feels unique, and make sure that it isnt obvious how everything is going to turn out.
Deux ex Machina is one of the biigger fallicies and is quite cliches: AKA when something utterly random comes in at the last minute and saves the day/conflict.
When I write my first thought (sad to say) is usually a cliche. I can spot it almost immediately and fix it either during edits or immediately (usually I fix it immediately hence the prolonged first draft writing time for this writer). My second and third thoughts after I've thought of the cliche are typically better when I revise and edit later. So I guess I'm saying: have second and third thoughts because most cliches are a matter of routine (and my own thought process maybe because I'm used to them) and in this way sometimes unescapable. But that doesn't mean they are not fixable. Take second and third looks to avoid cliches. Hell, take as many as you need.
Most simple clichés take the form of lame similes and metaphors:
good as gold
avoid like the plague
cold as ice
limp as a wet noodle
sing like a bird
etc.
These phrases are so tired and familiar that they no longer serve a purpose. So one thing to look at is your similes and metaphors. If you've heard it before, chances are that most other people have, too.
Avoid them like the plague.
caw
good as gold
avoid like the plague
cold as ice
limp as a wet noodle
sing like a bird
etc.
These phrases are so tired and familiar that they no longer serve a purpose. So one thing to look at is your similes and metaphors. If you've heard it before, chances are that most other people have, too.
Avoid them like the plague.
caw
Try never to describe something in a way you've heard/read it described before. If you've heard or read multiple people describing something in a particular way, it's likely to be a really common cliche.
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Life is filled with cliches. We use them in our every day conversations. I've been told, that I'm very good at using them.
Now, I don't know if that was meant as a good thing or a bad thing but...they work at the right time and at the right place.
If you aren't at the editing stage, I recommend you leave that worry for now. Plow through to the end of your story and when you get there, you take three months off from the work and come back to it with fresh eyes and I bet you won't have to ask anyone, you'll see them standing out and if they don't work, well...you'll know that too.
Now, I don't know if that was meant as a good thing or a bad thing but...they work at the right time and at the right place.
If you aren't at the editing stage, I recommend you leave that worry for now. Plow through to the end of your story and when you get there, you take three months off from the work and come back to it with fresh eyes and I bet you won't have to ask anyone, you'll see them standing out and if they don't work, well...you'll know that too.
Step one is to learn that something is a cliché. There's nothing more humiliating than thinking that I've spotted some truth about the human condition and it turns out to be nothing but a tired old (and most often false) cliché.
Go here for the complete list:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage
Go here for the complete list:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage
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Well, first, I wouldn't sweat it too much if you miss some. No one's going to reject your book merely because they find a cliche on page 105.
If you want to go on a cliche hunt, hit the descriptions, and particularly anything with metaphors. These are some here. Dialogue would likely need to be reviewed on a case by case basis, since it may be appropriate for the person to say.
If you want to go on a cliche hunt, hit the descriptions, and particularly anything with metaphors. These are some here. Dialogue would likely need to be reviewed on a case by case basis, since it may be appropriate for the person to say.
I look for:
Familiar known expressions, i.e. things I've heard before. Try to write a phrase you've never heard anywhere. That's for me when I'm writing.
Sometimes I google an expression while critiquing. If it comes back as a slang definition, chances are....
Oh, and by that I mean I put the suspect expression directly into Google search. You can see in the results without even clicking on any if it came back as something in use by many people.
Familiar known expressions, i.e. things I've heard before. Try to write a phrase you've never heard anywhere. That's for me when I'm writing.
Sometimes I google an expression while critiquing. If it comes back as a slang definition, chances are....
Oh, and by that I mean I put the suspect expression directly into Google search. You can see in the results without even clicking on any if it came back as something in use by many people.
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Deux ex Machine
I don't know. I always considered this an historical idea. More a noun than a cliched expression, I guess.
Thoughts? I'm curious about your experience with this example. Have you read that it is considered cliche? Or is this your own conclusion, and if so based on what?
Our own conclusions about these things are valuable, imo, please let me know!
I don't know. I always considered this an historical idea. More a noun than a cliched expression, I guess.
Thoughts? I'm curious about your experience with this example. Have you read that it is considered cliche? Or is this your own conclusion, and if so based on what?
Our own conclusions about these things are valuable, imo, please let me know!
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If you've read a metaphor or a simile before, don't use it. It's bad. And a single cliche can jerk an editor or agent right out of a story.
Thanks for those links! I think those will be very helpful, at the very least, an interesting read.
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Cliches also include plot, characters, etc. in addition to phrases.
Go through your manuscript and examine each line and see if it's been said a thousand times before ("a thousand time" is itself a cliche).
Not all cliches are bad. But if you can find an original way to say something, then why not? Or instead of relying on a cliche ("it's raining cats and dogs"), why not instead describe the scene more vividly with sensory details?
Go through your manuscript and examine each line and see if it's been said a thousand times before ("a thousand time" is itself a cliche).
Not all cliches are bad. But if you can find an original way to say something, then why not? Or instead of relying on a cliche ("it's raining cats and dogs"), why not instead describe the scene more vividly with sensory details?
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Thanks everyone! Y'all have given me some great advice. DrZoidberg, I'm looking at those links now.
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Perhaps trope would be a better word?
Commonly, very commonly, Deux ex machina is used to quickly solve a problem in a story, even if it doesnt make that much sense. Most often, it is used to ensure that the good guys win in the end even when logically they shouldnt have.
Unless you're just reffering to the term, then no, use of the term is not cliche neccessarily.
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Historically, Deus Ex Machina (translates as God from the machine) was a device used in Greek theatre. The actor playing a god would come in via a crane and would solve the conflict.
However now it's generally used as a criticism for a lazy way of getting out of a muddled plot. I wouldn't say it's cliche because cliche implies that the person is trying to be sincere but is actually spouting hackneyed tosh. People using a deus ex machina aren't aiming to be sincere.
If you want to annihilate cliches, first look at your metaphors. Study whether they serve their purpose- do they really make the description any clearer or are they just there because it was hard to find a better description at the time?
Then dialogue. Cliches seem to pop up most often, and are most deadly in, books with crime and romance in them. As the writer is generally trying to pass the murder/relationship as sincere, a cliche can be fatal. Read the dialogue out loud- would someone actually say 'I'll be yours forever'? Maybe in a mushy card but it doesn't really convey any depth of feeling or any personal feeling. As well as being insincere, cliches are also very generalised and so the character's emotions feel very one-dimensional.
Most plots and themes are overdone- for some, there are reasons why we keep going back to them; for others, lack of imagination is why we revert to them. If your plot,characters and themes are coming too easily, chances are that they are cliche.
Here's another list of cliches.
If you're really concerned about finding cliches in your MS, you can get a subscription to Autocrit. One of the tests is a cliche finder.
If you're really concerned about finding cliches in your MS, you can get a subscription to Autocrit. One of the tests is a cliche finder.
Thank you Lady Ice and Black Ghost. Both your explanations worked well for me.
This is a character that is insincere but thinks he's not. The insincerity is dwelled upon by an antagonist, who is Lilith, btw. She thinks of him for a moment as God in a Machine. Her thoughts are sardonic and ill-intentioned. To say the least. Truly evil character. She's so fun! (He's fake, he needs help, he's not special otherwise, etc).
Metaphors are great to read, but I detest writing them for fear of making them too contrived. They do end up showing up natually. Even then I'm not thrilled. I consider my writing very straight-forward. But no one else does!
This is a character that is insincere but thinks he's not. The insincerity is dwelled upon by an antagonist, who is Lilith, btw. She thinks of him for a moment as God in a Machine. Her thoughts are sardonic and ill-intentioned. To say the least. Truly evil character. She's so fun! (He's fake, he needs help, he's not special otherwise, etc).
Metaphors are great to read, but I detest writing them for fear of making them too contrived. They do end up showing up natually. Even then I'm not thrilled. I consider my writing very straight-forward. But no one else does!
As a corollary, I'd venture that a lot of writers get into trouble with clichés out of a perceived need, or subliminal habit, of overuse of metaphors and similes. This leads to writing that feels "forced", unnatural, the writer straining too hard to impress. Yeah, some writers get away with it; if you want a good, often hilarious example of such writing, take a look at stuff by detective novelist Ross MacDonald, who never saw a simile he could pass up, no matter how absurd.
caw
I think I'll get the subscription from autocrit. The price is a bit high, but I like what autocrit does.
Even the best novelists have a fight with clichés, which incidentally aren't always similes or metaphors. See Ian McEwan and his flickering log fires.
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Personally I think trying to prevent cliches at all costs would lead to forced and artificial writing. That's my opinion, of course. Life is full of cliches and people are full of cliches and you can't be "original" 100% of the time. Like everything else (show vs. tell, adverbs, the use of "I", etc.) if you try too hard to be "original" then your writing will suffer -- won't be natural anymore.
Not all cliches are bad. However, if you find yourself relying on cliches too much, then you may be a victim of "knee-jerk" writing habits and lazy writing. All of that can be fixed in rewrites, but you must actively look for them, examine them, and search and destroy when necessary.
Not all cliches are bad. However, if you find yourself relying on cliches too much, then you may be a victim of "knee-jerk" writing habits and lazy writing. All of that can be fixed in rewrites, but you must actively look for them, examine them, and search and destroy when necessary.
WORD. I think it's crazy to try to get rid of all the cliches from your work. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they prevent clinical wooden writing. Writing is about finding a balance...what works and what doesn't.
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