To cliché or not to cliché
My Evil Day Job can be kind of brain numbing, so I have far too much time to think. Yesterday I was mulling over clichés.
All the experts say we should avoid clichés and I'd agree with that--generally speaking--but what I was mentally debating while I sat at the EDJ was when is something fresh and new so distracting that instead of being part of a good story, it becomes more about the phrase than about what the author is trying to convey? Clear as mud?
For example, in my WIP when the hero smiles at the heroine, she felt like she was hit by_____. A ton of bricks? Over used. A speeding locomotive? That's also been done. A runaway freight train? Same problem.
So be unique, I thought, be original. She was hit with the force of a rhinoceros attacking a tour bus. Um, definitely different, but if I came across that in a book, it would pull me right out of the story and I'd be like, whoa!
So maybe the cliché works better here? As her eyes met his, it felt as if she'd been hit by a runaway freight train.
This isn't what I actually wrote, of course. I did find a middle ground and tied it to the heroine being a glass artist. I might change it still as I reread and fine tune, maybe it might get cut out on revisions all together.
But it led me to wonder if sometimes writers would be better served by just going with the cliché? Are there times where it's best to just to forget about breaking new ground? What do y'all think as either readers or writers or both?
In other news, I signed up for digital cable and my dad and I installed the cable box yesterday. My service had a deal--the digital starter package for $29.99 for 6 months--but what I really wanted was the MLB network since I like to watch baseball while I write. TBS stopped showing Braves games, WGN hardly shows any Cubs games any more, and the Twins lost Torii Hunter (my favorite player) and Johann Santana, our Cy Young Award-winning pitcher. It's going to be a semi-brutal season to only really have the Twins.
I could have titled this blog "Adventures in Cable Box Installation," but it really wasn't that hard. The only problem was the girl at the cable "store" said we didn't need to call the cable company to activate the box. So I'm looking at the schematics going, "everything is hooked up exactly right, why isn't it working?" One call to the company and ten minutes was all it took to get it all working. And get this: One remote for the TV, cable box, and DVD player. Wow.
Only it turns out that the digital starter pack has maybe half a dozen more channels than standard cable plus the channels that play music and that's it! What's the point of having digital cable without BBC America and Gameshow Network and all the other cool things? A quick check online showed the digital preferred package plus HBO was on special for $39.99 for six months, so I upgraded to that. We'll see how much use I get out of it.
All the experts say we should avoid clichés and I'd agree with that--generally speaking--but what I was mentally debating while I sat at the EDJ was when is something fresh and new so distracting that instead of being part of a good story, it becomes more about the phrase than about what the author is trying to convey? Clear as mud?
For example, in my WIP when the hero smiles at the heroine, she felt like she was hit by_____. A ton of bricks? Over used. A speeding locomotive? That's also been done. A runaway freight train? Same problem.
So be unique, I thought, be original. She was hit with the force of a rhinoceros attacking a tour bus. Um, definitely different, but if I came across that in a book, it would pull me right out of the story and I'd be like, whoa!
So maybe the cliché works better here? As her eyes met his, it felt as if she'd been hit by a runaway freight train.
This isn't what I actually wrote, of course. I did find a middle ground and tied it to the heroine being a glass artist. I might change it still as I reread and fine tune, maybe it might get cut out on revisions all together.
But it led me to wonder if sometimes writers would be better served by just going with the cliché? Are there times where it's best to just to forget about breaking new ground? What do y'all think as either readers or writers or both?
In other news, I signed up for digital cable and my dad and I installed the cable box yesterday. My service had a deal--the digital starter package for $29.99 for 6 months--but what I really wanted was the MLB network since I like to watch baseball while I write. TBS stopped showing Braves games, WGN hardly shows any Cubs games any more, and the Twins lost Torii Hunter (my favorite player) and Johann Santana, our Cy Young Award-winning pitcher. It's going to be a semi-brutal season to only really have the Twins.
I could have titled this blog "Adventures in Cable Box Installation," but it really wasn't that hard. The only problem was the girl at the cable "store" said we didn't need to call the cable company to activate the box. So I'm looking at the schematics going, "everything is hooked up exactly right, why isn't it working?" One call to the company and ten minutes was all it took to get it all working. And get this: One remote for the TV, cable box, and DVD player. Wow.
Only it turns out that the digital starter pack has maybe half a dozen more channels than standard cable plus the channels that play music and that's it! What's the point of having digital cable without BBC America and Gameshow Network and all the other cool things? A quick check online showed the digital preferred package plus HBO was on special for $39.99 for six months, so I upgraded to that. We'll see how much use I get out of it.
posted by Patti O'Shea at 4:50 AM
I don't mind the occasional cliche in a story. It's when the author uses the same phrase not only 3-4 times in one book but in ALL of their books.
That and when they remind you every other page of the H/H's special abilities, but that's a different topic. =)
The occasional cliche doesn't bother me either. I would prefer to see it used in dialogue rather than stating "She was hit with a ton of bricks." People do use cliches when they speak and probably don't notice it. "And that's just the tip of the iceberg!"
It still needs to be occasional though. Too many cliches makes the author seem lazy. How many are too many? I can't say for sure, but it's too many when I start noticing them.
When I am deep into reading a story cliches do not bother me. As you said the unusual wording of trying to avoid one would probably pull me out of the story.
This is the opinion of a reader not a writer.
Repeating ourselves is hard to avoid, unfortunately. I can tell you I'm hugely cognizant of having a tendency to repeat certain words. I pay attention while I write, whenever I read through, when I revise, my writing buddies point out when I repeat words too closely, my editor, and the copy editor, but I'll read the final version of the book when it comes out and I still have those darn repeated words.
It frustrates me endlessly and I always wonder how I didn't see them. I'm sure part of it is that I'm too familiar with the story. :-/
Patti
Laura,
My thought is that people think in cliches, too. :-) I mean if we're just thinking to ourselves, who is there to impress, right?
Anyway, I do try to stay away from cliches, but I guess I was wondering when is avoiding the cliche more jarring for a reader than just using it, you know? When do we get so creative that the reader just thinks, say "ton of bricks already"? ;-)
Like I said, the EDJ is boring.
Patti
Joyce,
When I'm deep in a story, I don't notice cliches either whereas something more original might stop me cold. Not that I can think of an example right now except for my exaggerated rhino one. :-)
Patti
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