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*treads lightly to see if it's safe to come out* Ok, now that we've determined that opening a story with someone waking up is a bad thing, what are some examples of other cliches that would lead to literary suicide for our work?
Posts: 128 | Registered: Jan 2009
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There's the one about this man and a woman who are shipwrecked on a strange planet...and the man is named Adam and the woman is named Eve...
Actually I've never seen a story about this one that wasn't a joke. Did somebody in the 1920s or 1930s or 1940s actually get one published in the first issues of the SF magazines? And if so, why hasn't it been anthologized where we could all see it and laugh?
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The Turkey City Lexicon is an evolving listing of bugaboos particular to fantastical fiction workshops. Last updated February 25, 2009.
Here's a sampling;
The Jar of Tang Squid on the Mantelpiece You Can't Fire Me, I Quit Dennis Hopper Syndrome The Kitchen-Sink Story Re-Inventing the Wheel The Shaggy God Story The Slipstream Story The Steam Grommet Factory The Whistling Dog Abbess Phone Home Kudzu Plot "As You Know Bob" Eyeball Kick Ontological Riff Funny-hat Characterization Consensus Reality Intellectual Sexiness
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OOps, I copied your example of code and I must have done it wrong. Thanks for the catch. I'll Change it.
Posts: 1888 | Registered: Jan 2008
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I am not sure it is mentioned anywhere on the above mentiones lists, but 'Space log entries' and kids discovering alien stuff really peels my paint.
Posts: 1888 | Registered: Jan 2008
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Related to the waking up start is white room syndrome--waking up in a white room being even worse.
The white room is the blank page ahead of the writer just as the waking up is the writer waking up to his story.
This was used to great effect in the movie "Stranger than Fiction". The author in that story has had writer's block for 15 years--her apartment has white walls with nothing hanging on them, which makes perfect sense for her dilemma.
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I spent the last two days peeling wallpaper so I could paint my son's room. I just made it up. I also like 'Eats my lunch' Posts: 1888 | Registered: Jan 2008
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You know what really sells my house? It's when people use silly expressions, it just burdens my bags!
Posts: 2195 | Registered: Aug 2006
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Since almost everything is now considered "cliche", having been frequently used over the years, and most things that aren't are probably going to be considered too out there, distant or incomprehensible, I try not to worry to much about "cliches."
This is especially true of plots...most plots have been done repeatedly, and in almost every possible permutation with almost every possible slant.
So as far as worries about being "cliche" go, I say write whats in your head. It will be yours, not someone elses...maybe you will find some all new slant on something but even if you dont its your world, your characters, your magic or super science or whatever. Also remember...theres a reason why things become cliche: Because people LIKE them and because they resonate.
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I tend to agree with Merlion-Emrys, that you shouldn't worry too much about what's cliched, because by now pretty much everything is cliched.
Once or twice I've gotten comments that a particular story element is cliched even though I've never read a story where that occurred before, which means it's probably not actually cliched. *shrug*
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In studying etymology I've seen what was once commonplace become trope, become trite and overworn, become idiom, and then become commonplace again, in words and phrases anyway. Not as much in motifs and themes, which too readily become overused and abused MacGuffins and plot coupons.
[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited March 27, 2009).]
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As writers seeking markets, cliches can become overused at certain times, such as YA supernatural novels seen to be flooding agents and editors everywhere as a result of H. Potter and Twilight.
Good writing may overcome all, but when you are dealing with competition in the 1,000s for some attention,knowing what's overused and what's not may serve as a guide.
quote:As writers seeking markets, cliches can become overused at certain times, such as YA supernatural novels seen to be flooding agents and editors everywhere as a result of H. Potter and Twilight.
Your certainly right, although I don't necessarily consider this the same thing as "cliche." What your talking about is massive oversaturation within a particular catagory or sub-genre. I think the same kind of thing happened and is probably still happening with high fantasy due to the LOTR and Narnia movies and the like. But that sort of thing tends to come and go more quickly, I think, than those things that the term "cliche" is generally used to describe.
quote:Good writing may overcome all, but when you are dealing with competition in the 1,000s for some attention,knowing what's overused and what's not may serve as a guide.
True, but I dont think we should not write or not submit things just because they may be considered "cliche", for a wide range of reasons. What is or isn't "cliche" is subjective, things become cliche generally because they resonate with people, are true things or things people like...as far as plot, theres only really so many to use.
I mean while their might be a lot of alien invasion or damsel-rescue stories around, I'm willing to bet there are likewise editors with a soft spot for same.
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I think, at this stage in my career, I can't come up with something strikingly original, and will have to settle for writing up an old idea in a new way---or at least, my way. And I think I can hope for "better" in a couple of cases.
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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I think cliches are most problematic when there's an attempt to do something gimmicky or overly clever (seems most often to happen in the areas of idea and milieu). You also get into issue of whether there are only some finite number of "plots" out there when you begin to analyze them for there primary characteristics.
I believe you can incorporate nearly any idea/milieu into a good story, and if you use characters in strong dramatic situation as the glue and focus for the story rather than an intellectual concept, you probably won't run into too much trouble with overdoneness. Caveats would include using characters that go beyond archetypes (or over-replication of widely known characters) and refraining using pedestrian tricks to produce surprise that aren't outgrowths of the dramatic setup.
In that sense there's tons of room for re-use of "old ideas", because I think a well conceived and developed character and her/his response to a dramatic series of events can be as unique as the writer in his/her personality.
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I think the same thing is true of concepts as well, since everyone has their own take on them, and especially in speculative fiction you can present them in an infinite number of ways.
I also agree that a lot of times trying not to be "cliche" can wind up creating a lot of problems of its own...as in what you said about gimmicks and overly clever tricks.
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