Crooked smiles and other weirdly specific YA cliches
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The 'bit my lip' cliche has been used A LOT. The one I'm seeing a lot of lately is 'sucked on a tooth'. As in, she sucked on a tooth, trying to choose between the two. All I picture is a huge tongue pushing lips out. Not the visual I think the author was shooting for.
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Sucked on a tooth? Is that even possible?The only one of these cliches that I've seen is the hair in front of the face and the biting lip. I'm guilty of both of these.
I "suck on a tooth" when I get something stuck in a small gap at the top of my dental crown. I promise it's in no way attractive.
My college students *have* crooked smiles. They are the cliche. It's like a full smile is being too easy-to-get or something. Also, they smirk. Maybe it's me.
Interesting mention above of reaction filler which I think is where so many of these cliches come from. I hate using reaction filler. But for me there comes a point where dialog is moving too fast and the characters have to do something for one or two beats besides talk. Smile, laugh, gasp, sigh, grin, roll eyes, chuckle, swallow, etc. In my just-finished ms. I have a character letting out "a breath he felt like he'd been holding for months." I'm leaving it in. And never reading this thread again. haha
(addendum: in my before-bed reading last night I hit three pairs of green eyes and one crooked smile in the first twenty pages)
Interesting mention above of reaction filler which I think is where so many of these cliches come from. I hate using reaction filler. But for me there comes a point where dialog is moving too fast and the characters have to do something for one or two beats besides talk. Smile, laugh, gasp, sigh, grin, roll eyes, chuckle, swallow, etc. In my just-finished ms. I have a character letting out "a breath he felt like he'd been holding for months." I'm leaving it in. And never reading this thread again. haha
(addendum: in my before-bed reading last night I hit three pairs of green eyes and one crooked smile in the first twenty pages)
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This thread is so amusing! The crooked smiles thing is rampant, but I've noticed recently that more authors seem to be writing about how a character's mouth "bunches to one side" instead. It was weird the first time I read it, but now I'm pretty sure I use that phrase once in my own manuscript...
Other clichés: well, there's the whole "leaning" thing, like certain characters can't seem to get through a scene without leaning against something. Also, the taut/tense jaw or a muscle jumping along (usually a male) character's jaw--must be a "manly" way of showing emotion, or something? I'm guilty of that one, too. Lots of arms being crossed and fingernails digging into palms (guilty and guilty).
Oh, and a character thinking something, only to realize they said it aloud! Which has happened in my real life exactly zero times.
Other clichés: well, there's the whole "leaning" thing, like certain characters can't seem to get through a scene without leaning against something. Also, the taut/tense jaw or a muscle jumping along (usually a male) character's jaw--must be a "manly" way of showing emotion, or something? I'm guilty of that one, too. Lots of arms being crossed and fingernails digging into palms (guilty and guilty).
Oh, and a character thinking something, only to realize they said it aloud! Which has happened in my real life exactly zero times.
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The ones I've noticed most in YA lit are the lip biting and the smirking. I avoid using lip biting, but still use smirking b/c it fits some characters/personalities so well and adds to conflict with the condescending action.
My male MC does a lot of half smiles, which I think is the same as the crooked smile. I'm meaning for it to show his often conflicted emotions on things. I think when you tend to never be fully happy, all you can manage is a crooked/lopsided/half smile, but it's hard to go further than that it with it. So to me the character with these smiles has underlying issues.
My male MC does a lot of half smiles, which I think is the same as the crooked smile. I'm meaning for it to show his often conflicted emotions on things. I think when you tend to never be fully happy, all you can manage is a crooked/lopsided/half smile, but it's hard to go further than that it with it. So to me the character with these smiles has underlying issues.
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Does anyone else follow BroodingYAHero on Twitter? It’s a parody account that makes fun of a lot of YA clichés; I find it keeps me in check a little, on what not to do (alas, there are some things that are unavoidable— my characters do tend to smirk, tense their jaws, and sigh a lot— really, how many ways are there to express those things? 
).
https://mobile.twitter.com/broodingYAhero
).https://mobile.twitter.com/broodingYAhero
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I love TheYABestFriend; we’ve corresponded a few times over the last year or so, and it’s always amusing.
Omg the muscle jumping along a male character's jaw! That's one I'm definitely guilty of.
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I haven't noticed it in any books I've read lately. BUT, now that you've mentioned it and I have read your post, I'm sure I will see something along the lines of a crooked smile in every YA book I read from here on out. It's like those quirks people have, but we love them so much we don't notice it until someone else points it out, and then you can't un-see it or un-hear it.
So funny!! I didn’t realize I was doing this to my mc a lot. I try to avoid them as much as I can. How about “Her chest Purred” or “his chest growled” I get the feel of it but I always imagine phlem or as an asmthatic person they need an inhaler.
I specifically remember seeing it all the time in the twilight books and then never again. I'm definitely going to be on the lookout now.
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I'm thinking of a very cute but-thinks-she's-plain girl named Ayad. The girl must have a never before heard of name and I like that one. It was actually going to be the title but it's the girl's name also.
Acronym for Another Young Adult Dystopia.
Acronym for Another Young Adult Dystopia.
Isn't it possible that sometimes something can be so stressful or traumatic that you aren't aware of what your body is doing until later...?
For example:
"When Wade's car gets close to my house, hot blood rushes to my ears. I fight the urge to hide my face in my hands like I used to when I was seven and force myself to look toward the driveway. I’m pleasantly surprised to see it’s not Dad’s red truck parked under the basketball hoop. It’s my uncle’s navy-blue one.
Uncle Billy must’ve got my message, and came here to help Mom “fix” things. Which is good. Out of Dad’s six brothers, Uncle Billy is the only one who lives close and has always been Dad’s favorite. Maybe because he’s the oldest, and he took good care of Dad the way Grandpa never would.
I exhale with relief, then realize I’ve been holding my breath."
Is this better, or would you not like this, too?
So the problem isn’t really the line or a unique way to use it (trust me, I laugh at the strange ways authors try to find to change up “she bit her lip,” my pet peeve). If it were just in one or two books, not a big deal. The thing is that these cliches get used so often that it seems like every person must do them every few weeks or months of their teen life.
Using lip biting because it’s my peeve: So 19 of the 27 books I’ve read this year has had some use of lip or cheek biting. This doesn’t tell you how many had 20+ lip bites in the book (the answer is more than one, lmty). I don’t know 19 people in real life who bite their lips (& certainly not to bleeding). And it’s become shorthand, often, for, “Oh, I’m weak & vulnerable & uncertain,” which makes me cringe when “strong” characters do it. I think these cliches also perpetuate themselves. Author reads them in multiple books & gets to a point where it seems almost unnatural *not* to use them. And suddenly they’re everywhere.
Using lip biting because it’s my peeve: So 19 of the 27 books I’ve read this year has had some use of lip or cheek biting. This doesn’t tell you how many had 20+ lip bites in the book (the answer is more than one, lmty). I don’t know 19 people in real life who bite their lips (& certainly not to bleeding). And it’s become shorthand, often, for, “Oh, I’m weak & vulnerable & uncertain,” which makes me cringe when “strong” characters do it. I think these cliches also perpetuate themselves. Author reads them in multiple books & gets to a point where it seems almost unnatural *not* to use them. And suddenly they’re everywhere.
I don't like it. The hot blood threw me for a little before I realized you were describing a flush. The hiding of the face, I don't understand -- is it fear? Embarrassment?
The exhale part, no, no, no.
The problem is here it's being told in first person rather than third. If you were telling a story to someone firsthand, would you mention to them how you flushed and held your breath? No, you'd rely on the story and its context to convey your fear or nervousness, or just describe it: "Fear took me over, and I held my breath." Sometimes it's better to tell than show.
Back to the holding breath thing, I think "Sighed in relief" works well as a marker of let-out breath caused by nervousness. But the reader would notice if it's used more than two or three times in a novel.
Didn't the lip bighting become a thing after Twilight, all its fanfiction, and then 50 Shades?
The head shaking to forget something. Oh, so much head shaking.
It's quickly become the bane of my existence.
It's quickly become the bane of my existence.
OK, here's one I've noticed over the years that's probably has more to do with the marketing than the writing: Books where the person on the cover looks suspiciously like the author. The new PBs for Ember in the Ashes and The Boyfriend List spring to mind, but I swear, once you see it you can't not. (This might not be just a YA thing, but since that's the genre I'm most exposed to these days)
Or when the main character is just a blatant copy of the author (Stephanie Meyer I'm looking at you).