What are Cliches anyway?

Cliches, as commonly understood, are something overused, especially in fiction and media, to the point where it becomes a pattern—a predictable pattern that makes whatever is produced feel stale, predictable, and, God forbid, frustrating.

Welcome, Timmy. Today, we’re delving into a light topic, something I’ve been giving quite some thought to—cliches. They are the bane of the “artsy” type, you know the ones, those who like “art” but only whatever definition of “art” fancies them at any moment in time. Those who can never be satisfied. Then you have the other side of the spectrum, those who in internet culture are referred to as “Normies.” Am I a Normie? Excuse me? Only because I enjoy trashy series and police serials doesn’t make me a Normie, Timmy. What makes a Normie, you ask? Well, to consume without thinking, to go through life without reflecting. I can enjoy a very simple-minded satire or a dumb police series that has high pretension, while I recognize that indeed, they are not high art.

But we have strayed from the topic, Timmy. This is the point where you might be wondering whether there exists a middle ground because, while one hates cliches, the other almost never notices them. So, for the rest of us, what are they? My take? Pre-assembled boxes of patterns that have proven to work in times past.

I don’t remember whether it was with you or with Neophyte that I made this comparison, but if we add up all the notes and octaves available to musicians, then we end up with around 84 total (no, I am not a musician, nor do I have deep knowledge of music, so correct me if you know more). That is limited, even though the theoretical ceiling is high. The point I want to reach is that all songs are assembled from the same fundamental blocks, so is writing.

I know that you have at least heard of the hero’s journey or the three-act structure. They are accepted and loved by many as writing structures. Following this line of thought, wouldn’t they make stories stale? Without context, the answer is yes, but with context, the answer is no. And there is your answer.

You are free to critique cliches all you like, I sure do, especially because they make me see where the story is going far earlier than the author intended.

So, did you notice it? No? Well then, I will ask? What are we criticizing there? Cliches? No, no really, we cannot criticize an intangible concept Timmy. I mean, you can, but if you want to be the crazy man yelling in the public square about how the end is nigh, then be my guest. Back to writing, what we are criticizing is how the author used the cliche because, again, a cliche is a building block of a story. Nothing more, nothing else. Heck, we call them cliches when we notice them, not when they are so well integrated into the story that, well, they just are part of the story.

And that is what cliches are, story elements that are so badly executed, so many times, that we have an entire category of them.

Take heart Timmy, this can be avoided. In part, it is dependent on what you want to accomplish and how honed your writing skills are. Mistakes are unavoidable, no matter how many times you go through your work with a fine-tooth comb. Other times you can be so blinded by your work that you don’t see its flaws, or maybe you are the lone type who just works alone and doesn’t let anyone see his work until it is done. At that point, it is too late.

Or maybe you are a corporation who just wants money, so you aseemble the safest formula your team can think of, and then be very confused when it doens´t work.

If you haven’t noticed, Timmy, there is no perfect here, only work. You can never be really sure that you are doing the correct thing; the only way is to fail upwards.

What many don’t discuss is that you can use cliches to your advantage, as tools for writing. You can use them to craft your story, play with them, or surprise your audience with a mirage, where it’s supposed to be a cliche, there is something else.

At the end of the day, it is up to you, Timmy, no one else, and as I said before, you have to fail upwards. Anyway, that would be all.

Until next time!