According to Wikipedia:
A cliché or cliche (pronounced UK: /ˈkliːʃeɪ/, US:/klɪˈʃeɪ/) is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, rendering it astereotype, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. The term is frequently used in modern culture for an action or idea which is expected or predictable, based on a prior event. Typically a pejorative, “clichés” are not always false or inaccurate;[1] a cliché may or may not be true.[2] Some are stereotypes, but some are simply truisms and facts.[3] Clichés are often for comic effect, typically in fiction.
Most phrases now considered clichéd were originally regarded as striking, but lost their force through overuse.[4] In this connection, David Mason and John Frederick Nims cite a particularly harsh judgement by Salvador Dalí: “The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot.”[5] (gotta love this one)
A cliché is often a vivid depiction of an abstraction that relies upon analogy or exaggeration for effect, often drawn from everyday experience. Used sparingly, they may succeed. However, cliché in writing or speech is generally considered a mark of inexperience or unoriginality.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. So I didn’t. But when you’re creative writing, especially for publication, you must say it better yourself. That’s the point. Clichés appear witty — after all — the writer thought to use the perfect saying for the perfect moment. In reality? Clichés are lazy. Someone else wrote it and it’s already a well-know colloquialism. Ho hum, booooooring. You didn’t do any of the work.
But I’ll be honest, for me, clichés have their place and my first drafts are strewn with them, along with phrases like find another word for itch or find a good way to describe a dress. In first drafts I write fast and I write anything to get my thoughts into the Word doc — knowing I’ll revise least three or four times before I officially consider it a first draft. I use clichés “like crazy” because the phrase reminds me of what I want to say, but not how I want to say it. Then I go back and find every cliché, something I learned to do in a Margie Lawson class. And believe me, it takes more than one pass through a manuscript to find them all. They come dressed in literary camouflage. Check out this website for a comprehensive list of clichés — and do the best you can to nix ‘em, by just deleting the clichés, or, fix ‘em, by rewriting them in your own words, in your voice.
Because saying good-bye to clichés means saying hello to better writing. And that’s the point. Right?
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Amy Sue Nathan is the editor of STET, the Backspace monthly newsletter and manages @bksp_org on Twitter. In addition writing fiction she also is a published freelance writer and editor. She has two teenagers and two dogs and is a non-repentant chocoholic. You can read more here.
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