Clichés, in words, are generally considered to be over-used
phrases which have often lost their effectiveness and sometimes their original
meaning. Clichés in books and movies mean highly predictable or stereotyped results.
In history a cliché was the name used in typesetting for frequently used words
and phrases that merited permanent blocks of type for printing.
Let’s talk about the cliché in words: Every writer yearns for
the day when his/her words will be immortalized and it is the immortalized
phrase that becomes tomorrow’s cliché. New writers are frequently told to avoid
the use of clichés “like the plague”-
however this really needs to be decided by each individual. There are times
when the use of cliché is the right thing to do, at least sparingly. If you are
using a cliché in your writing do not overuse it, make sure you are using the
meaning correctly, and if there is a comfortable way of re-wording it then
consider it instead. Your final choice of a phrase should sound natural and fit
the flavor of the story; use your discretion.
The use of a cliché in dialogue may be a way of giving a
character a unique personality. Several decades after the fact whenever I hear
the phrase “not for nothing” I
automatically think of a long-lost friend I had in high school who seemed to
preface almost every tale with those words. As writers we want our readers to
identify our characters with something memorable so that our characters will
live forever. Used sparingly, try assigning a catch phrase that sounds like one
of your characters. If the elderly aunt in your story begins her every story
with “count your blessings” it will
become a part of her for the reader and depending on the story that follows
will add to her unique persona.
If you find that you are relying on all too frequent clichéd phrases,
decide what it is specifically that you are trying to say. Perhaps you can
include more specific information and choose words that will still fit the
setting. Verify the meaning of the phrase and the accuracy – the cliché “easy as pie” (easy?) actually began as “nice as pie”, a much more understandable
analogy. So what are you really trying to say? Who was nice and how? Instead of
saying the storeowner was nice as pie,
you might say the storeowner was very
nice and helpful when she gave us those concise directions (for example).
Clichés in plots can apply to every genre: The formula romance
is predictable in boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, and they get back together
and live happily-ever-after. If romances are so predictable then why was, according
to the Business of Consumer Book Publishing 2013, romance fiction the largest
share of the U.S. market in 2012. Writers made their characters interesting,
individual and multi-dimensional; writers added interesting and believable plot
twists and intriguing sub-plots; and even though the formula was repetitive,
the way the story unfolded was not.
Writing Exercise:
Use your own words to re-word each of the following overused clichés – 1) from
A to Z; 2) avoid it like the plague; 3) it was a dark and dreary night; 4) it
was love at first sight; 5) figure of speech; 6) comparing apples to oranges;
7) like water off a duck's back; 8) not for nothing; 9) near and dear to my
heart; 10) against all odds; 11) bee in her bonnet; 12) whole ball of wax; 13)
like a champ; 14) ugly as sin; 15) scared stiff.
Writing Prompt:
Write down the FIRST thing you think of for each of the following clichés – 1) put
the pedal to the metal; 2) once bitten, twice shy; 3) pass the buck. And then
write down the phrase you associate with the most influential person in your
life – what do you think the individual meant when he/she said that?
