How to avoid cliches?
- Thread starter sadron
- Start date
- Status
I usually see them in the 2nd or 3rd draft if they sneak in. If your description doesn't make the reader actually picture something in their minds (who really pictures sick people when they see "avoided like the plague" or a load of bricks with "like a ton of bricks") then it's probably a cliche.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2005
- Messages
- 23,708
- Reaction score
- 10,661
- Location
- In a world of my own making
- Website
- shadowferret.wordpress.com
Don't write them. Doesn't seem that hard.
If you've heard it before, it's a cliche.
As George Orwell said, "Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. "
If you've heard it before, it's a cliche.
As George Orwell said, "Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. "
Boy cliches and stereotypes get a bad rap but there are reasons why they exist they spare our brain processing power so we can use that processing power somewhere else.
I'm not saying liter your writing with cliches and such, I'm just saying one or two now or then may not be a bad thing.
I'd dare say StarWars (the hero looking for his place in the universe, the cad, the damsel in distress, the wise mentor) and Harry Potter (the wise mentor mage, the gentle giant, the brat) have a cliche or two and they both proved to be quite entertaining and successful.
In writing I never say never. It's all in the approach and the execution.
I'm not saying liter your writing with cliches and such, I'm just saying one or two now or then may not be a bad thing.
I'd dare say StarWars (the hero looking for his place in the universe, the cad, the damsel in distress, the wise mentor) and Harry Potter (the wise mentor mage, the gentle giant, the brat) have a cliche or two and they both proved to be quite entertaining and successful.
In writing I never say never. It's all in the approach and the execution.
If you notice a cliche as you're writing it, stop. Back up and figure out a fresh way to express that thought.
If such stop-and-revise is too damaging to your momentum, just keep writing and take care of removing/revising the cliches later.
And perhaps do some writing/observation exercises separate from your WIP just to work on fresh descriptions/comparisons/metaphors.
If such stop-and-revise is too damaging to your momentum, just keep writing and take care of removing/revising the cliches later.
And perhaps do some writing/observation exercises separate from your WIP just to work on fresh descriptions/comparisons/metaphors.
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2007
- Messages
- 1,661
- Reaction score
- 365
I feel the same way. Sometimes clichés can be comfortable for a reader, but like in all things in writing and life...moderation is the key. (Except for chocolate, of course.)
Nicole
To me one person's cliche is another person's marketable.
We think and analyze data in patterns cliches are just another type of mental pattern.
Just write the story. See what comes out. It's way easy to over think yourself into a corner.
We think and analyze data in patterns cliches are just another type of mental pattern.
Just write the story. See what comes out. It's way easy to over think yourself into a corner.
You just have to keep your eye on the ball, your nose to the grindstone, and your shoulder to the wheel. Never say die, don't give up the ship, stand for something or you'll fall for anything, keep the faith, baby, gimme five, knock 'em dead, if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em, remember the Alamo, and keep on the sunny side of life...
Joss Whedon had a great way to avoid cliches -- he made up all his own figures of speech. Biggest problem with cliches is they sometimes wear out, and then your story looks like a period piece. You can watch any episode of Buffy and never hear an expression that was popular at the time but sounds ancient now -- 'cause no one outside the cast of Buffy was saying it when it was filmed.
If it sounds familiar when you write/read it, think of a way to say that you haven't heard before.
Joss Whedon had a great way to avoid cliches -- he made up all his own figures of speech. Biggest problem with cliches is they sometimes wear out, and then your story looks like a period piece. You can watch any episode of Buffy and never hear an expression that was popular at the time but sounds ancient now -- 'cause no one outside the cast of Buffy was saying it when it was filmed.
If it sounds familiar when you write/read it, think of a way to say that you haven't heard before.
Last edited:
Cliches are like anything else in writing. Sometimes they work, and sometimes not so much.
It would all be so much simpler if there was an ironclad list of Dos and Don'ts, wouldn't it?
It would all be so much simpler if there was an ironclad list of Dos and Don'ts, wouldn't it?
... Perle_Rare slinks back to her WIP and carefully excises the "avoided like the plague" she had snuck in there earlier today... 
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Messages
- 43,746
- Reaction score
- 8,654
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Website
- www.amazon.com
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2006
- Messages
- 4,527
- Reaction score
- 1,182
- Location
- Ottawa, Canada and Spring City, PA
- Website
- janetursel.com
Dolores, pretty much anything is acceptable in dialogue if that's the way the character in question would speak.
If I were you, I'd look at these cliches and ask myself if it could be said in a better, fresher way and if the story would be improved by this. Sometimes, especially with metaphors, I think cliches can be weak because they don't really tell the reader much. For instance, we know that "raining cats and dogs" means that the rain was heavy. But it doesn't really tell us anything about what occured. It relies on the assumption that we'll gather that it was pouring and come up with what the author wants us to imagine.
When it comes to cliched situations or characters, I'd ask myself what I want to achieve with that situation or character, how much it really needs (cliches tend to work better with brief, walk-on characters than characters who are important to the plot, for example), and if there's anything about it that sets it apart. Maybe your character fits a common archetype, but they have some more unsual qualities, as well. If this is the case, you might not have a problem.
Cliches do serve a purpose. People recognize and trust them quickly. But I think what it should come down to is what will make your story what it needs to be.
When it comes to cliched situations or characters, I'd ask myself what I want to achieve with that situation or character, how much it really needs (cliches tend to work better with brief, walk-on characters than characters who are important to the plot, for example), and if there's anything about it that sets it apart. Maybe your character fits a common archetype, but they have some more unsual qualities, as well. If this is the case, you might not have a problem.
Cliches do serve a purpose. People recognize and trust them quickly. But I think what it should come down to is what will make your story what it needs to be.
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2006
- Messages
- 1,996
- Reaction score
- 348
- Location
- Hawaii
- Website
- patriciawoodauthor.com
keep in mind cliches are also things like:
The sky is blue.
The green grass.
Heartfelt sigh.
and most importantly : Those ubiquitous rosy fingers of dawn.
But yanno...take it with a grain of salt...
The sky is blue.
The green grass.
Heartfelt sigh.
and most importantly : Those ubiquitous rosy fingers of dawn.
But yanno...take it with a grain of salt...
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2005
- Messages
- 11,792
- Reaction score
- 4,698
- Location
- Wicked Little Town
- Website
- cathellisen.com
Sometimes, that's all you need though. I've see horrible things happen where people have written "emerald orbs" where green eyes would have been just fine.
Well, yeah, we should already be asking ourselves that question about every word we write. When it comes to clich[SIZE=-1]és[/SIZE][SIZE=-1], though[/SIZE], we can't avoid them unless we can recognize them[SIZE=-1]. There aren't any shortcuts for that; read often, read widely, and read well. Sure, we can study a list of common clich[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]é[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]s and search our writing for those. That's a good start, but those lists are never complete. They only include the worst offenders. There's always more.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]
Clich[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]és got that way for a reason. Every clich[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]é started out as a fresh, evocative image. [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Every clich[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]é started out doing[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] such a good job of describing something that it was copied and repeated and copied and repeated. Eventually, the overuse made it stale. Clich[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]és are clich[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]éd precisely because they were initially so effective[/SIZE][SIZE=-1].
[/SIZE]
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Messages
- 43,746
- Reaction score
- 8,654
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Website
- www.amazon.com
Sometimes, that's all you need though. I've see horrible things happen where people have written "emerald orbs" where green eyes would have been just fine.
It's not just the words themselves, but how you use them. If everything is going well and the characters are happy: The sky is so blue! That's a cliche. It's lazy writing, "telling instead of showing," taking the easy street, and all that.
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2005
- Messages
- 11,792
- Reaction score
- 4,698
- Location
- Wicked Little Town
- Website
- cathellisen.com
Ah okay, I see what you mean. I was just saying that sometimes the sky is blue, is the exact right thing to use.
So I mean, we agree. God, i can't speak/type today... blegh
So I mean, we agree. God, i can't speak/type today... blegh
- Status