Blog, when one is writing within the confines of a genre, there are inevitably certain expectations from the reader with regard to images, words and phrases, otherwise how can one conform to the idea of a genre? One is writing towards pre-existing parameters so will inevitably ‘rub up’ against the notion of cliché. The word ‘cliché’ is (obviously) French, and actually means a film negative, so has shifted its meaning during the process of translation. It has, in itself, become a cliché (banal, often repeated, meaningless). I do appreciate that my opinions here are ‘against the grain’ (cliché), and I am 'playing the devil’s advocate' (cliché), I just feel that the much maligned cliché needs and deserves a defence. We are all entitled to one in court, that’s the law.
We are, at the moment, writing in the year 2023, and lots and lots of human beings have been writing down lots and lots of stories for several thousands of years now. If the expectation for new writers such as us is to be 100% original 100% of the time then, I would say, that is a pretty high bar to set (another cliché) and, I would say, nigh on impossible, even in a language as vast and flexible as English. I can promise you that any idea that we come up with here has been done before.
The expression ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ is, yes, you guessed it, yet another cliché, and is what all great writers from the past, and present, have done and still do, including Joanne Rowling (even her writing is littered with adverbs which is exactly what we are told not to do in writing courses such as this). None of us live or work in isolation and all of us have influences and inspirations. Even dear old Will Shakespeare was writing in the same manner as his contemporaries, inspired by the Greek and Latin classics. He was just better at it than they were. And I say that as a huge fan. But I’m also a huge fan of Edmund Spenser, George Chapman and Michael Drayton. Who? The point to be made here is that there are, and have been, thousands and thousands of writers of whom we have never heard, nor have we read their work, so the idea that we can be entirely original with our writing is more than a little presumptuous, and dare I say it, tainted by a soupcon of arrogance.
So why is it that clichés receive such a bad rep? Why do clichés become clichés? They originate as a very good word / phrase / saying that is considered efficient, accurate and succinct (aren’t we constantly taught to do exactly that?) and so lots of people use them. So the fact that they become clichés should be a tribute to the quality of the original thought, not cause them to be looked down upon and scorned. In western society we do the same with old people. We shove them into a care home and ignore them. One of the failings of the human race is that we are constantly looking for the next new / big thing. Bigger, better, faster, more. This is just one example of that. Change is just change. It doesn’t necessarily help us.The clichéd phrase 'the grass is always greener on the other side' is relevant here, pointing out that what you have is just a point of view, it doesn't reflect reality.
We should learn to appreciate and nurture the good things that we have, instead of constantly yearning for something else.