Clichés: Should we avoid them?
As writers, we're told that we should avoid the dreaded C word like the bubonic plague. It's every writer's struggle and nightmare because they seem to be everywhere and just when you think you've managed to avoid one, another crops up. Whenever you read a review, something cliché related is always mentioned: the love plotline was too cliché, the ending is going to be too cliché because it ended happily or it ended with a character we all knew was going to die dying. But what does that word even mean? Is it actually insulting or complimentary? And should we be avoiding cliché s or embracing them?
According to the dictionary, a cliché is ‘a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought’, in other words, it’s been done before. I recently began writing again, but I stopped for a short while because every time I tried to write there were too many blocks in my head telling me that my writing wasn't good enough or that I was falling into clichéd and overdone plotlines. If I ever wrote anything I would dismiss it as being rubbish or too cliché because it didn’t feel original. But then I read an article that told me to write anyway. That everything is cliché. That you can't escape it. Even if you try and go against the cliché that then becomes cliché. (Is the word cliché beginning to lose all meaning for you? Because it is for me!).
George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series is known for its surprises and killings popping up here, there and everywhere and the plotline taking interesting turns. In a lot of ways , Martin's world is the embodiment of uncliché . He goes against typical romantic setups and character traits. His plots aren’t overused or overdone and his world is extremely original, despite being based on real locations. What seem like stereotypical characters on the surface end up having a human depth. But even now, people are beginning to question how the series will end. People are concerned: how can Martin avoid cliché s now? His writing has become so epic and the deaths so well positioned that even they are becoming overused and unoriginal because we now expect the unexpected deaths and jumpy plot lines. And people are wondering, with all of the unexpected plot turns, how in hell is he going to pull of an ending that will surprise us all? Maybe that's why he is taking so long to write the damn thing, because he doesn't want this to happen. Everyone's assumption is that something will happen between the ice and the fire, in other words the white walkers and the dragons or Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen hence the overall title of the series, which in essence seems cliché – I mean opposing elements are the embodiment of cliché - but because Martin has built up an expectation of taking us where we don't expect it's going to be extremely difficult for him to pull of an ending that we don't expect - even he has admitted that he has written some plot lines that readers have managed to guess (hint hint R+L=J). And because of this, it’s going to be extremely hard for him to be uncliché, particularly given the title and the expectation.
Cliché is connected to expectation. When something falls into a cliché it's an archtype we expect or a plotline that is familiar, even stereotypical. The knight rescues the princess and all is happily ever after, the geek and the basketball kid fall in love despite their differences. But is that necessarily a bad thing? Some of the most successful books follow familiar and overdone plotlines. Romance books for instance, usually follow the plotline of forbidden love : either due to circumstance such as wealth or long distance or in the case of Twilight because he could drink your blood and kill you. But even though these do fall into that cliché idea of forbidden love, they are successful and well-read and loved by many, so should we be knocking the idea of a cliché?
It's impossible to avoid them. Even if you go against the cliché like George R. R. Martin, you end up somehow becoming cliché. There is no escaping it. Of course, that's not to say you should lend your book to entirely embracing the familiar and things that have been done before - your novel has to have something new to say - but it should also contain elements of the familiar. They say that every story is based on one of thirty plotlines and you can't escape these even if you try to - unless you don't want to have a plot. Everything is based or inspired by something. That's why we as writers read, to be inspired by what is already out there. I don't think including cliché s in your writing is a bad thing. I think it's HOW you include them that matters. Whether you make a point of going against the cliché , like George R. R. Martin, or do the whole cliché thing but
in a comical way like Shrek, there is a way to make something cliché refreshing new and original, to transform something that is overused into something innovative. I think anyone who tells you that you should never write cliché s is clearly either on something or has nothing better to do than to criticize other's work. Don't let the fear of writing a cliché keep you from writing. You never know, you could be the person who brings a cliché back in again.