Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
Cliche is just another way of saying that the reader noticed what the author was doing; reader's are not supposed to do that, not while they are reading.
Tropes and plot-devices talk about exactly the same thing, but allow for it to be something you notice only after you finish reading and start trying to deconstruct the story. The problem with that is that it has already been done by the likes of Joseph Cambell and others, who would have us believe that every story is the same story. (And so must be inevitably cliche?) This may be why some people prefer to read non-fiction, in fiction the story fails to fool them and all they see are the plot devices. |
I am thankful, then, that I don't know very much about those technical things. If I did, I'm sure it would ruin reading for me. Everything might start to look trite and predictable.