A little bit of a silly topic this one, but I have been pondering the power of the cliche. For a long while in film, television and literature a lot of discussion was engaging in creating original art – to the extent of pushing away from the cliche. Ensuring that regardless of what would or would not work for the narrative, the most important factor was ensuring that it was not a cliche. Have we now pushed far enough out that the cliche has become nostalgic? What I thought might be interesting is having a look at what cliches still have juice to squeeze (star crossed lovers) and what others need to remain in the dead and buried (man of the house).
I think that the popularity of the cliché can be attributed to the popularity of memes. Clichés are very something that become very meme-worthy. – tygarrison7 years ago
The most damning critique of any work of fiction is that it's "cliched." Cliches are obvious detriments to the success of a work of fiction, but why? Can there be instances when the use of a cliche actually strengthens a work of fiction? Give careful definitions of terms such as "cliche," and track how an effective storytelling device, or special effect–like the "Vertigo effect" or "bullet time"–becomes a cliche, and whether it can be salvaged after endless imitation. As lazy as it is to pepper a story with overused cliches, ask, can the use of cliches be a good thing (in some instances)?
I agree that cliche is such a damning critque. But to answer your question, I think cliches could be used as a good thing, if the writer itself can twist the cliche and create some sort of originality to it and grad the reader's attention even if the reader already knows its a cliche. If that makes any sense! – Tkesh8 years ago
Clichés can be used effectively when there is a surprise twist to them. For example, M. Night Shyamalan usually writes a story with a twist. – Munjeera8 years ago
Great topic. How can Bob Dylan use cliches and tap into collective conscience while others are just unimaginative or lazy? – Tigey8 years ago
It depends how the cliché is being used. For example, you could try twisting one so much to the point where it criticizes the use of original version of the cliché or you can use a tried and true cliché and use it to underline the importance of certain aspects in the story. – RadosianStar8 years ago
Probably one of the reasons cliches are dreaded as much as they are is because of what it does to the reader. Our minds tend to disengage from phrases we've heard over and over again. I agree with what everyone else has already said about adding a twist to cliches to make them sound more original. That being said, everything we consider cliched now was original at one point in time and the likely reason it's been overused is because it once captured that particular truth so well. Nothing is one hundred percent original anyway, so why are cliches given such a hard time? In the case of cliches, we notice its unoriginality right away whereas other forms of repetition may be better disguised. – aprosaicpintofpisces8 years ago
I think that a cliché knowingly used with a hint of irony visible to the reader can be worthwhile. The real problem emerges when the author isn't aware that parts of their work is unoriginal. – IsidoreIsou8 years ago
I think this writing not can be very useful to writers if there were some articles that could point them towards publishing! – VAnnM8 years ago