I don't know exactly how you used your cliché, but I think you've got the gist.
The technique I learned was to use a cliché only if you could find some paradox or turn of phrase to make it unique. "Put a special kind of spin on the ball as you throw it," one editor wrote. An example: "Now that you've played easy to get, don't prove anxious to be owned."
Some people would say to use clichés ironically, but reflexive irony can be its own kind of cliché (and surprisingly mindless as well).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham
I think that sometimes the cliché can be the right choice. I'm writing some westernised versions of Asian folk tales at the moment, and I used 'in the wink of an eye' yesterday. I was going to scrub it on edit but on reflection I left it in as the phrase resonates with western readers, placing the story firmly in fairy/folk tale territory.
Perhaps the rule should be use clichés knowingly or not at all?
Of course, I could just be wrong to have left it in! 
Graham |