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| Cover of Stephen Fry |
The temptation, when
writing about clichés, probably a cliché in itself, is to use clichés as an
attempt at irony. I shall try to resist that temptation. But I’m not promising I’ll
succeed.
First of all, what is a cliché?
Well, the good old SOED, my particular favourite amongst dictionaries, gives
the following definitions:
Cliché: 1. A metal
stereotype or electrotype block.
2. A stereotyped
expression, a hackneyed phrase or opinion; a stereotyped character, style, etc.
I think we can ignore the
first, accepting it as the historical reason for the second, which is of far
more literary interest. I’m not going to bother to list any clichés at this
stage. I’m sure most of you can quote dozens, and if you’re looking for others,
try this link: http://www.clichelist.net/
Secondly, let’s look at
the question; are clichés always bad?
They can be a shorthand
method of expressing something that everybody’s likely to understand; a way of
communicating an idea in a few words that will be readily appreciated. And, in
journalism and common speech, such ways of communicating can be useful without
necessarily suggesting any laziness on behalf of the communicator. If I say someone
‘abandoned ship’, I don’t need to explain, do I, assuming you understand this
is a metaphorical rather than a literal statement? And if I call something ‘child’s
play’, we all know that it’s easy, don’t we? So, in this way, clichés perform a
valuable service.
However, in works of
creative writing, whether fiction, fact, poetry or prose, clichés are generally
considered bad things. Why? Well because they generally make the writer look
lazy and they generally mean that the writer is lazy, has taken the road of
least resistance (there you are, and I said I’d try to avoid it!).
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| An 1870 oil painting by Ford Madox Brown depicting Romeo and Juliet's famous balcony scene (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The obvious thing about clichés
is that they were once someone’s original solution to the problem of how to
express something in a memorable and meaningful way. Many, of course, flowed
from the pens of literary giants. Shakespeare comes to mind; ‘A rose by any
other name…’ (Romeo and Juliet, if you didn’t know), ‘more fool you’ (Taming of
the Shrew), ‘pound of flesh’ (Merchant of Venice) and ‘shuffle off this mortal
coil’ (Hamlet – the famous soliloquy) are just a few of many. (if you’re
interested, there’s a useful resource giving meanings and sources here: http://www.english-for-students.com/Phrases-from-Shakespeare.html
Stephen Fry famously once
said, ‘It is a cliché that most clichés are true, but then like most clichés,
that cliché is untrue.’
And Harold Evans told us, ‘Attempting
to get at truth means rejecting stereotypes and clichés.’
Whilst it’s true that clichés
cannot be relied on for the truth, some, nonetheless, are true. But it is,
undeniably, lazy to rely on cliché as a means of transmitting a feeling,
message, idea or situation to your readers.
I can use the tired old
phrase, ‘For Barry, it was always a matter of another day another dollar’ to
indicate that my character is in a dead end job only for the money. But it’s a
poor way to put flesh on the bones of a character. (Sorry!) Alternatives? How
much imagination do you have? ‘There were days, too many of them, when Barry
trudged to the office carrying dreams of a career in commercial law, with all
the glamour and kudos he believed that entailed. But he understood his lack of
education and the need to support his family day to day meant such dreams were
best left on the pillow.’ This says a lot more about Barry. It shows the reader
how he feels, and why, at least in Barry’s mind, he will remain in his
uninspiring job.
I can say that Mary’s bark
is worse than her bite, encapsulating a preconceived idea for the reader. Or I
can use my own words to put across the reality of my character. ‘Mary stormed
into the room and glared at young Michael surrounded by almost every toy from
the box. “If you don’t clear this mess up this minute, I’ll spank you so hard
you won’t sit down for a week, my lad.” Michael dropped the model soldier and
looked at his mother with his mouth open and a threat of tears in his wide
eyes. “Sorry, Mum. I was going to clear up before I went to bed, honest.” Mary
stepped up to the boy and, enfolding him in her arms, kissed his cheek. “Tell
you what: why don’t we do it together?” And she ruffled his hair as she
released him and began moving toys from the floor to the box.’ A pleasant
domestic scene in which the reader learns something about both Mary and Michael
in a far deeper way than is possible with the clichéd version.
These examples are not
brilliant. But they illustrate the point, I hope.
Of course, depending on
the type of writing you’re engaged in and the nature of the story you’re
telling, you can either use relatively mundane descriptive passages to
illustrate your stories. Or, if you have the time, imagination, and language
skills, you can produce gems of brilliance to dazzle the eyes of all and
sundry.
It’s a question of whether
you want to be remembered as the writer who dwells in clichés, or would prefer
to be hailed as the originator of such well-made phrases that they become the clichés
of the future. Up to you.
Another source of clichés,
as the word appears in quotes, can be found here: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/cliches.html
Just for the fun of it,
see how many clichés you can spot in this post. No prizes, just a bit of fun
and games. Post your answer as a comment, should you so desire.
2 comments:
I don't know how many cliches I forgot to count. But what you say is true. I'm guilty of using well worn cliches in dialogue because that's how people talk. In description rarely.
So you know how something becomes a cliche, don't you? Some bright minded writer writes it and readers start using it.
Hasta la vista, baby.
Agreed, JL. And, yes, always used in dialogue, especially when you want to emphasise that particular characteristic.
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