Pebblepup's Writing Den

Cliches are phrases or opinions that people often overuse. They may make your readers see a lack of original thought. These are the old sayings that everyone has used to much, they don’t mean anything any more.

Some common cliches are “every cloud has a silver lining”, “there’s no smoke without fire”, and “diamond in the rough”. You get the idea. You should avoid using them in your wiring. We all know the cliches, at least that particular type.

There is another kind of cliche. This is the idea cliche. These are the ideas that flood the publishing world. The thief with a heart of gold is a cliche. The vampire that is good and kind, is a cliche.

There are various degrees of cliche, but if it’s in more than one book, it’s on it’s way to becoming a cliche. You can count on that. If you want to sell your work, avoid building on ideas that are already published.

That’s not to say you can’t take an idea from another’s work and turn it on its head. That’s the beauty of writing. You can play with cliches and try to make them fresh again.

“Cold as ice” is a cliche. But you can take that phrase and make changes. In your rough draft you can use as many cliches as you like. Change them in the revision process. “His eyes were cold as ice.” That’s good in a rough draft. You can revise it to his cold gray eyes, or his icy blue yes. Although the second example may be another cliche. His frosty brown eyes is a twist on the cliche. One can have a cold gaze without having blue or gray eyes. All you need is a different twist on them.

“She was a diamond in the rough.” That’s another cliche which you can revise to “she was as raw as a carrot fresh from the ground.” Both show someone as untrained and in need of training. The second may be cumbersome, it depends on how you want to describe the character.

The point is, you should be aware of cliches and avoid them if you can. You don’t want your readers to see you as unoriginal. In some paranomral cozy mysteries I have read, the main character is in her twenties or even thirties. Something happens and she learns she is a witch. That character has become cliched. There may be a way to freshen the cliche, but I would rather have a witch find herself on her own in a situation. It leaves room for peril that the witch must overcome, but she won’t be a cliche. She could fall back on her training.

Another cliche I’ve seen a lot is the idea that magic only follows the female line in a family. That has never made sense to me. Why can’t a male witch exist? Write his story. This is the way to counter cliches. Take them, by all means, but twist them into something new.

My advice here is to be aware of cliches and, if you can’t cut them at all, then limit their use. Your writing will be better and stronger if you do. Good luck and keep writing.