Lies and Damn Lies About Clichés
Forget what you know about clichés in writing.
The first rule of writing is to not write clichés into your work. The second rule of writing is to not write clichés into your work. The third rule of writing is … you get the idea, right? According to some purists, using even one cliché will make you look lazy and uncreative. It is said to avoid clichés like the plague. Like your life depends on it.
But we don’t have plagues anymore, and neither does your life depend on it.
Truth is: Everyone and Everything Uses Clichés
Clichés are part of our speech. In every country, in every language. It’s pretty near impossible to write a story without common idioms, metaphors, and stereotypes. They’re part of who we are as humans. We don’t even have to worry about translating them because every culture has its own. Non-native readers may sometimes not get the humor, because clichés are often not to be taken literally, but the statement still adds worth to the message of your text.
What’s the Issue with Using Clichés?
We see the problems: Clichés weaken the dramatic effect of texts, make the reading experience bland and stale. They also make the author appear lazy and the plot feel predictable. We’re writers. We’re supposed to be original.
The first thing to realize (and admit) about clichés is that they work. They carry lots of content and subtext to the audience without having to actually do any work. And they get the job done every time, usually in the most effective (and effortless) way possible. Because they work, they have been used a billion times, and this has enabled readers to guess the endings of predictable plots — and that’s the problem. No one wants to know the ending of a book while reading it.
Worse than that is the staleness of clichés. Their own popularity eventually destroys their effectiveness. Why? Because they’re familiar, easily understood concepts. But they’re also flat. We are so used to seeing and hearing clichés everywhere that we often even fail to recognize them. They have become a terribly comfortable device to describe abstract concepts such as time (“better late than never”), anger (“mad as a hornet”), and hope (“tomorrow is another day”).
But this all doesn’t mean we have to avoid clichés altogether.
How Can I Make Clichés Work?
Use Them
If it gets your story from point A to point B, use it. Don’t rely on it, use it. There’s a difference. Relying on a cliché means that you can sit back, knowing exactly how things will unfold, because, as we just have learned, clichés get the job done every time. Using a cliché means that you break it down into what you need — just like an ingredient: Too much of it, and it overpowers the rest of your work.
Twist Them
If you have a clichéd idea, character, or plot, grab the cliché, acknowledge it, and spin it 180 degrees. Try looking at how you can make it different. We have learned that clichés make stories predictable. By twisting the cliché in the very last second, you can play with the readers’ expectations, having your characters behave in a way that the readers would never assume — and you can create plot twists. Can you do the opposite of what’s expected? Can you make it a positive if it’s a negative?
Make Them
Think about what the phrase or expression actually means and work your way back from there. Look up the cliché in a dictionary, and use the definition as a starting point for a synonym or alternative expression. Either that … or just make the cliché yours. Keep it in your writing, but replace it with your own brilliant idea. Clichés are asking to get messed with. Yes, originality can be hard, but sometimes looking beyond the obvious can present entirely new possibilities.
And Last but Not Least (couldn’t help it) …
It really doesn’t matter if your piece of work includes a cliché or two. What really matters is how you present it. If you have a good plot and characters to be remembered, nobody will care, especially if your readers are devoted to your piece of writing. Emotion will always be more important.
