Post 10 – Avoid Clichés – Unless You Don’t
Posted on | December 16, 2009 | 4 Comments
In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that I had a thought that I hoped wouldn’t become a cliché. It turned out that the thought was so cumbersome and convoluted that chances of that happening were very small. (I almost said moot, but that would be entirely too cliché.) However, it started my mind swirling around with the whole notion of cliché. It is almost a cliché to say, “avoid clichés at all cost.” Actually, it’s almost a cliché to say, “it’s almost a cliché”, so it’s hard to avoid them. As I said in a comment on Laura Christianson’s Blogging Bistro blog, they are insidious, sneaky little buggers, and creep in to your writing without any warning.
Things that have become clichés usually started out as profound or poetic thoughts, very clever and original ways to either describe something familiar or make understandable something very obscure, but devolved due to over use to become almost meaningless. Salvador Dalí said of clichés, “The first man to compare the flabby cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot.”
When used consciously, clichés can actually enhance good writing, they can be a comfortable entry point to a more complex bit of thought. They can be a good source of humor, especially if you somehow acknowledge that you realize you’re using the cliché. If you’re using several clichés strung together like pearls on a string, the turns of phrase can play well with others or fight like cats and dogs, they can gum up the works, or be your trump card, which can put the lie to thinking outside the box or become an actual Deus ex machina, making you eat your own words with an evil laugh, which is food for thought for anyone who sees the writing on the wall and really, really wants to avoid cliché. They also taste like chicken.
Okay, I think I just wrenched the soft tissue in my brain.
More seriously, as a writer of fiction, I always strive to avoid cliché phrases and (to use a cliché) turns of phrase. When I notice them on my page I try to reword them in a new and original way. “He breathed a sigh of relief” might become “He breathed in sharply, then released the breath slowly as he realized the shadow crossing his path was simply the old man who sold newspapers on the corner.”
Doing this does two things. It makes your writing have more of a unique voice, and it will usually make it more viscerally exciting because you’ve had to experience then describe what the cliché actually means, and that’s what you really want to communicate to your reader.
Allow the clichés to be there in your first pass. Then, when you go back through to polish it, think about them. Make them yours. Wrestle them to the ground. To coin a phrase.
~Geoff Hoff
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December 16th, 2009 @ 1:56 pm
The one thing about a cliche is that they communicate quickly. People easily recognize what they mean – you know Twitter type stuff.
The creative adaptation of a cliche is about writers like you.
Sheila
December 16th, 2009 @ 2:03 pm
Sheila – yes, which is why sales letters use so many of them. They can be powerful, but I still submit that thought should go into their use to make sure they are communicating, rather than softening your communication. If the former, use them. If the latter, change them.
And thank you!
Geoff
December 17th, 2009 @ 5:42 am
Hi Geoff, this is really an inspirational post. I keep comparing writing and creating music when I read your posts. In music there are lots of cliches too, and I can relate and get inspired by what you write in my creating music. when it comes to writing in english, it’s harder for me, because I don’t know the cliches in english.
Another benefit from reading your posts is that I learn new words. Todays word is: insidious..
Thank you!
December 17th, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
Insidious is a great word, isn’t it? I have often been told that I use too many big words, but I think words are there to use, and I do love them so. Hey, that gives me an idea for a new post. Thanks!