x_haphazard_x
(?)Community Member
Offline
- Posted: Tue, 09 Oct 2007 22:05:47 +0000
Hello there. I've noticed quite a few people out there asking about cliches, namely in an attempt to try to avoid them. Also, the idea of using cliches to test your writing against is overly simplified.
Either way, it's irrelevant. Cliches are not the end of the world, and considering the state of today, they're inevitable. So while we're here, let's learn to accept, and even more so, love, our trite overlords.
What is a cliche?
Just so that I'm not contested on this point, I am going to define 'cliche' as referred to here not as the dictionary definition, but by the definition that flys around the WF. This means, a cliche as in a plot point, character or any part of a character, part of setting, theme, etc., that sounds as if it's trite while being described. This is a huge difference from the dictionary definition, but again, the dictionary definition is irrelevant, we're addressing the WF's current needs.
Why should I accept them?
Cliches are everywhere. There are only 7 basic plots, so you're probably going to be using one of them. A romance that's 'boy meets girl' may be considered cliche, and adding on elements like he's a farmboy and she's a princess will just be adding more cliche. This is fine. In fact, I bet if you write it out, your audience won't care.
Why not? Because most audiences aren't tearing apart books because they're 'cliche.' Think about it! What do you look for in writing? Fascinating characters? A detailed setting? A well-paced plot? Those that judge your writing simply on whether or not you use a few cliched elements are very shallow readers, and hopefully that's not your target.
Personally, I look for style of the writing. I weigh it in books I read higher than character development and plot, both things that the WF puts huge emphasis on. The book could be full of cliches, but if the style engages me into the reading, I won't give a damn. It could be completely original, but if I don't like the style, reading will be a chore.
That aside, who is going to be reading this story? Are you keeping it for yourself, just a few friends, Gaia, or for publication? I'm not saying that you shouldn't try to improve, but you need to take these people into consideration and if these people care about cliches. I'll guarantee you, unless you have some weird friends, the ones that will care the most about cliches are the gaians.
Also, write what you want. If you want to write the most cliche things you can think of if you so desire. There's no such thing as the cliche-police. Nobody's going to stop you.
Okay. Why should we love them?
Because they're great tools, of course!
Don't think that having a cliched plot or character or setting or all three will make your story trite. That's simply not true -- if you're a good writer and put effort into your work, your story will shine. It doesn't really matter how original the writing is.
Also, cliches make excellent story fodder. When you start to write, you start out with a few ideas (many of them probably cliche), but it's impossible to tell how your writing will change them until you actually write. Cliches make excellent 'starter fluid', something to start you out writing, until you get momentum enough to sustain the story, and I guarantee that the story will either sustain the cliche as a part of its continuity, or it will become extraneous and you can edit it out in your next drafts. Whichever it is, you'll have a story with good continuity, and that's what you want, in the end. If your story has less merit without a cliche than with one, it's probably not a very good story in the first place.
So learn to live with them and love them. It'll do you, and the rest of the WFers, a service.
Either way, it's irrelevant. Cliches are not the end of the world, and considering the state of today, they're inevitable. So while we're here, let's learn to accept, and even more so, love, our trite overlords.
What is a cliche?
Just so that I'm not contested on this point, I am going to define 'cliche' as referred to here not as the dictionary definition, but by the definition that flys around the WF. This means, a cliche as in a plot point, character or any part of a character, part of setting, theme, etc., that sounds as if it's trite while being described. This is a huge difference from the dictionary definition, but again, the dictionary definition is irrelevant, we're addressing the WF's current needs.
Why should I accept them?
Cliches are everywhere. There are only 7 basic plots, so you're probably going to be using one of them. A romance that's 'boy meets girl' may be considered cliche, and adding on elements like he's a farmboy and she's a princess will just be adding more cliche. This is fine. In fact, I bet if you write it out, your audience won't care.
Why not? Because most audiences aren't tearing apart books because they're 'cliche.' Think about it! What do you look for in writing? Fascinating characters? A detailed setting? A well-paced plot? Those that judge your writing simply on whether or not you use a few cliched elements are very shallow readers, and hopefully that's not your target.
Personally, I look for style of the writing. I weigh it in books I read higher than character development and plot, both things that the WF puts huge emphasis on. The book could be full of cliches, but if the style engages me into the reading, I won't give a damn. It could be completely original, but if I don't like the style, reading will be a chore.
That aside, who is going to be reading this story? Are you keeping it for yourself, just a few friends, Gaia, or for publication? I'm not saying that you shouldn't try to improve, but you need to take these people into consideration and if these people care about cliches. I'll guarantee you, unless you have some weird friends, the ones that will care the most about cliches are the gaians.
Also, write what you want. If you want to write the most cliche things you can think of if you so desire. There's no such thing as the cliche-police. Nobody's going to stop you.
Okay. Why should we love them?
Because they're great tools, of course!
Don't think that having a cliched plot or character or setting or all three will make your story trite. That's simply not true -- if you're a good writer and put effort into your work, your story will shine. It doesn't really matter how original the writing is.
Also, cliches make excellent story fodder. When you start to write, you start out with a few ideas (many of them probably cliche), but it's impossible to tell how your writing will change them until you actually write. Cliches make excellent 'starter fluid', something to start you out writing, until you get momentum enough to sustain the story, and I guarantee that the story will either sustain the cliche as a part of its continuity, or it will become extraneous and you can edit it out in your next drafts. Whichever it is, you'll have a story with good continuity, and that's what you want, in the end. If your story has less merit without a cliche than with one, it's probably not a very good story in the first place.
So learn to live with them and love them. It'll do you, and the rest of the WFers, a service.
