Avoiding Cliches: A Day Late and a Dollar Short

-
Cliches don't work in creative or business writing. 

You might not know what a cliche is, but most people use them. Depending on the culture you live in, you might use them a lot.

I put one in the title of this post, a day late and a dollar short, to show you how useless they are. You probably have no idea why I chose that particular cliche, so let me explain. This post is a day late. I should have posted yesterday. It's as helpful to you as the photograph I've added to this week's post. I did have a reason for choosing this picture, but I doubt you can guess it.

What are cliches?

A cliche is a saying that conveys an idea in a cute or whimsical way. According to dictionary.com, the definition of a cliche is:  a trite, stereotyped expression; a sentence or phrase, usually expressing a popular or common thought or idea, that has lost originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse. 

Here are a few examples:

  • A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
  • Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
  • Between a rock and a hard place.
  • Fish or cut bait.
  • Madder than a wet hen.
  • Take a picture, it will last longer.
  • You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. 

Why shouldn't you use cliches in your writing?

Not everybody knows what a cliche means. One of my mother's favorite sayings was:

There's just enough blue sky to knit a pair of kitten's britches.

I've discovered over the years that most people don't understand the meaning of this one. Mom usually said this while peering up at the sky after a long period of rain.  There would be some blue sky, not much, but enough to make you hope for clear skies soon.

Cliches, also, shouldn't be used in public speaking.  I introduced this idea in a speaking workshop one time and asked for someone to provide an example of a cliche.  One of my students raised her hand and said, "I'm stressing on a doughnut."  The whole class laughed out loud over this one. When I asked her what it meant, she said, "I don't know. I just made it up."

When can you use cliches?

If your character speaks with cliches, then use them in dialogue. This can be an interesting trait, but only if one character does it. If others do, it will become annoying.  Even with one character employing cliches, make sure you don't overdo it.  And be sure that the reader can grasp the meaning from the context of the dialogue.

In a nutshell (did you see what I did there?), don't use cliches.

But just for fun:
What are your favorite cliches?
Why do you think I chose the photograph in this post?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Skin Tone: Describing Your Characters

-
Image
When you write about character's of different races, how do you describe their skin tone? If you've never thought about this, then consider this question: How do the authors you read described persons of color? A few months ago, I attended a webinar about writing diverse characters. The guest was Eliana West of Writers for Diversity . The information she shared felt fresh and valuable, especially related to describing a character's skin tone. I get really tired of seeing African-descended characters described in terms of the goods that drove, and still drive the slave trade--coffee, chocolate, brown sugar. There's some weird psychosocial baggage attached to that.    -- N. K. Jemisin As this quote from author, N. K . Jemisin , indicates, historically, writers have described people of color using food-related descriptors. Many people of color find this offensive. This surprised me, at first, but she has a point, especially when you view it through the quote above. My fir
Read more

Character Development: Using the Johari Window

-
Image
In my last post, Character Development: the Johari Window , I introduced the Johari Window as a tool for developing your characters. It's important that your character not know everything about their situation. These unknowns can lead to an intriguing story and create possibilities for conflict within the story. How do you use the Johari Window? In this post, I thought I'd provide a simple example of the Johari Window with a character most people know:  Harry Potter. Below, I have filled out the Johari Window as it might appear within the first few pages of book 1, Harry Potter and The Sorceror's Stone . The Johari Window based on Harry Potter and The Sorceror's Stone Three of the quadrants in this window reveal what Harry doesn't know about who he truly is and what happened to his parents. I could add a lot to the quadrants representing what he doesn't know, but I hope this gives you an idea on how a Johari Window might be used. What do you d
Read more

Should Christians Watch The Hunger Games?

-
The question stunned me.  I had never looked at The Hunger Games as a threat to our society, so the email asking why I, as a Christian, could promote a movie/book where children kill children caught me off guard.  My friend admitted, she had not read the books or seen the movie, so her opinion was based on plot information found online, but all I could think is that's not really what The Hunger Games is about.  It does not glorify children killing children.  Sure, there is the arena - which is a large wilderness - where twenty-four children are launched into the game of kill or be killed, but that's only looking at this story from the surface. Even so, I realized my friend gave me a rare opportunity. Rather than blast me, she told me her concerns and asked if I could explain why many Christians support and rave about this story.  I thanked her and asked for a few days to gather my thoughts.  I even re-read the first book in the series with her concern foremost in my mind. 
Read more