|
To me cliche means a set of expectations. That plumber who likes beer and football is a cliche because it triggers a set of expectations. If you just roll along, meeting those expectations, it can be argued you are being lazy and not writing the best possible piece (see link I posted above). If he drinks Merlot and Baileys then you broke the stereotype... and maybe introduced another, lol.
I got into arguments with my writers groups in the past about cliche because it isn't obvious to every reader. But enough people saying it makes it true. I wrote a fantasy piece and merely used the phrase, "standing on a grassy knoll." I was blown away by how many other writers got completely hung up right there. "But... grassy knoll! Kennedy assassination!" WTF? is my response. The story had nothing pointing in that direction. Those two words were abusive cliche, even with no parallel context?! More than half of a large group said yes. Sigh.
Good written fiction isn't "real" so what does it matter if cliche happens to also be real? That doesn't validate its use in a story. Dialog is a perfect example or something real but to-be-avoided. If you transcribe a tape recorded conversation you will generally have a weak mess compared to properly written dialog.
I am probably more guilty of cliche than most of you but I recognize it is a weakness. When I use a cliche I am sliding along on connotations instead of using subtle exposition to create character expectations.
|