Avoiding Cliches

[pythonesque]

It's hard to avoid cliches now-a-days, I think. There's so much out there, it's impossible not to be compared to another writer. So, my question is, how do YOU try to avoid cliches? Or, how do YOU tweak the to make them more interesting.

I feel like I'm not very good at this, in a general sense. Mostly because once I come up with a clear cut idea, it tends to stick because I feel like I already know certain characters. For example, I was 14 when I began writing seriously. I wrote a lot then, too. So, I came up with the cliche story of a teen destined to be a prophet of a hidden kingdom, yatta yatta. I wrote at least 200 pages for it, probably more. It's full of cliches, but I love the characters because I got to know them.

With my newer stories, I don't have that problem as much (:  

[exdraghunt]

I try to avoid cliche's by identifying what my writing is too similar to and changing whatever I can so that the resemblance isn't so apparant. I've never written directly to a cliche before.

Kind of a lame explanation, but I tend to come up with really strange ideas for stories. (I'm scared of my own brain sometimes) They usually aren't too "cliche"-y except sometimes in minor ways. And the fact that all my main characters tend to be rather apathetic teenage boys. I don't know what that says about my personality, but there you go.  

[FoxyNightPrincess]

sometimes i like cliches but if i start writing and it feels like it's too much like something else i'll sit back and think up a solution to fix the problem and make the story more of my own again. the problem is there's so many books and movies swirling around in my head and around the world that it's kind of difficult these days to make something really original.

i don't just think outside the box, i tear it up.  

[All Purpose Muling Device]

Don't try to avoid s**t. Just write and worry about if things are cliche or not. I really can't believe that with the dozen threads per week on the WF about this, it still needs to be said.

It's not difficult at all to make something "original." And beyond that, anything you've done has been done before, no matter how hard you try. The way you carry it out is the important thing. You need to use tropes. You need to. Don't avoid those.

As for honest-to-god cliches ... well, odds are you're not going to hit any, because you know, on a subconscious level, the kind of crap you need to avoid, and you just won't do it anyway.

And being compared to another writer has nothing to do with cliches.

I'm actually going to leave this post with some advice to look up the definition of cliche, because I'm thinking your definition is off the mark.  

[Xiao Xianyu]

People are going to be sick of me posting this quote (I think I've posted atleast two times over in the WF), but here I go again:


Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.
C. S. Lewis

It's not about what's cliche and what's not. It's about what's well written. If you love your characters, chances are somebody else will too. Don't worry about being cliche, worry about telling a good story. That's what's most important.  

[damaged-reality]

I actually avoid them pretty easily without trying to hard. Usually when I come up with a story that I find unoriginal I start from scratch, though I can be pretty darn original most of the time.  

[Lyvidian]

Xiao Xianyu

People are going to be sick of me posting this quote (I think I've posted atleast two times over in the WF), but here I go again:


Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.
C. S. Lewis

It's not about what's cliche and what's not. It's about what's well written. If you love your characters, chances are somebody else will too. Don't worry about being cliche, worry about telling a good story. That's what's most important.

+1  

[Secret Kirari]

That's pretty much all I was going to say... not necessarily, of course, all which needs saying, but everything that I would have said in direct response has already been said.

In indirect response... I like to, sometimes, take the cliche and just use it. The cliches are fun to use when you mess with them a little--I try doing this when I roleplay, if I can. Things like... oh, say the small girl who isn't actually young, but she's so tiny and short that people often assume she is. She will, likely, either be shy and gentle or fiery and loudmouthed. The second choice is more common in modern works, I find, but it sometimes seems like recycling the 'older' cliches actually helps make your own writing feel fresher. Then there's the oblivious loudmouth, the angry foot-in-loudmouth, and the never-angry people-pleasers. The cliches, when performed nicely, are easier to relate to.  

[Tanseki]

I don't think avoiding the cliche is the answer, if you think about it, the longer a cliche is avoided, the less cliche it becomes. Eventually what was once the most cliche statement one could have written, is one of the most original.

Avoiding the cliche, in my opinion does not make a better writer. I think the best writers can make the cliche remarkable, it's hard work though. Good writers work with what they have, if it's cliche oh well, good writing should not be destroyed to avoid a cliche.  

[-S-Dancing_Star-S-]

I don't try to avoid cliches, I mix them all together so that it looks nothing like a clich, and just for fun I add in a bit of personal experience with a dash of inspiration (sometimes more) from my dreams, everyone always says my ideas are so original... if only they knew lol.... If people were paying reaally close attention they might be able to pick apart the vast amount of things I have mixed together. It pays to read books, watch tons of movies, play videogames and watch anime, it gives me a vast knowledge of ways to go with a story  

[Degen316]

Xiao Xianyu

People are going to be sick of me posting this quote (I think I've posted atleast two times over in the WF), but here I go again:


Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.
C. S. Lewis

It's not about what's cliche and what's not. It's about what's well written. If you love your characters, chances are somebody else will too. Don't worry about being cliche, worry about telling a good story. That's what's most important.

Well said. If I could tip your post, I would, but Gaia hasn't updated the guild forums for such things just yet.  

[Shadyness]

I've just realized how many people don't know what a cliche is.

A cliche is not something that has been done before. It is something that has been done over and over again to the point of being tired and overdone. Being compared to one book/movie/story does not make it cliche.

/rant.  

[Xiao Xianyu]

Shadyness

I've just realized how many people don't know what a cliche is.

A cliche is not something that has been done before. It is something that has been done over and over again to the point of being tired and overdone. Being compared to one book/movie/story does not make it cliche.

/rant.

I disagree. Most people do know what a cliche is. Saying their work is compared to (insert movie/book/tv show) simply means that whoever compared it is comparing it to the most recent use of the cliche that comes to that person's mind.

I also disagree on your definition. A cliche is something that's been done over and over again, to the point of being instantly recognizable. Whether it is tiring and overdone is personal opinion. The cliche one person rants about is the one another person is completely hooked on.  

[All Purpose Muling Device]

Xiao Xianyu

Shadyness

I've just realized how many people don't know what a cliche is.

A cliche is not something that has been done before. It is something that has been done over and over again to the point of being tired and overdone. Being compared to one book/movie/story does not make it cliche.

/rant.

I disagree. Most people do know what a cliche is. Saying their work is compared to (insert movie/book/tv show) simply means that whoever compared it is comparing it to the most recent use of the cliche that comes to that person's mind.

I also disagree on your definition. A cliche is something that's been done over and over again, to the point of being instantly recognizable. Whether it is tiring and overdone is personal opinion. The cliche one person rants about is the one another person is completely hooked on.

A cliche has been overdone to point of being shallow and meaningless. It's not that it's recognizable. Tropes are recognizable. They are not cliches. They still have meaning, they still have impact, and they are indeed incredibly important to writing.