Reworking Cliches by Annette M. Irby

man thinking*

One goal—perhaps the central objective—of writing is communication. Our words matter; our phrasing matters.

One of an editor’s jobs is to interpret what the writer is saying. That’s another level of evaluation beyond grammatical rules or story structure, a level regarding content and communication. As writers, we should think that way too. Fresh writing impresses editors.

Clichés are phrases that were developed (or accidentally invented) to communicate a thought, feeling, or situation. Most of the time, they’re used in regards to universal ideas/situations, but not always.

Most editors flag clichés. Why? One reason is that clichés do not communicate well. Another, is that clichés can be redundant. Also, if someone has been trained to mentally catch clichés, when they read one in a book, the familiar-but-meaningless phrase will jar them out of the story. (Confession: I highlight cliches in books I read on my Kindle.)

See if you can find any meaninglessness or redundancy in the following list:

Examples of clichés:

Each and every one of you

Bless his/her/your heart

Caught between a rock and a hard place

Making a mountain out of a molehill 

S/he hadn't a moment to lose

A drop in a/the bucket

Six of one, half a dozen of another

Couldn’t/can’t help but (a personal pet peeve)

Now, you could probably define exactly what each of these means. We’ve certainly heard/ read/used these enough, haven’t we? But if we do see them in books, do they really communicate something, or do we gloss over the phrase and search for deeper meaning elsewhere? Also, sometimes clichés don’t mean what they appear to mean, which can confuse readers who aren’t familiar with the inherent sarcasm or true intended meaning. (I’ve heard “bless your heart” isn’t always meant as a blessing…)

That’s why editors will most likely ask you to “write fresh,” or rework clichés. There are extra steps involved, but the work will pay off.

Here are some tips for reworking clichés:

Ask yourself—What am I trying to say? It’s okay to start with a cliché in your rough draft, but then rework it. Analyze it. What is the cliché saying? How can you say it better? Go for deeper meanings, nuances, layers. Focus on communication, and strategize how to best get your intended meaning across.

Pull out a thesaurus—Sometimes replacing a word or two is all you need to do. Don’t make it too complicated, and don’t let one phrase or scene get you bogged down. But, don’t get lazy either. The strongest writing is cliché free. Reworking clichés isn’t always easy, but it does get easier.

Don’t use the first phrase you think of—Oftentimes, our minds tend to think in clichés. It’s easier. So, like I said, start there. Then, reword.

Stay alert—Watch for clichés. One writing workshop teacher used to say “cliché alert” every time someone used one in her class, including whenever she quoted one. That kind of thinking will keep us aware of when a cliché pops up so we can practice rewording it.

Exception

Yes, there are exceptions to every rule. Perhaps your character really does use clichés. Maybe your story wouldn’t be the same without him/her. These characters even think in clichés. So, go ahead and include them in his/her dialogue and introspection. But beware. Readers are going to search for meaning elsewhere. Be careful how often s/he uses them. And don’t use your character as an excuse to leave too many clichés in your final draft. In other words, be intentional.

Challenge yourself to avoid clichés whenever possible, even in non-manuscript writing. By practicing not using them in our speech, e-mails, or social media, we’re training ourselves to rethink and reword as we create sentences. Remember, writing is all about communicating ideas.

Application

Comb through your current manuscript. Find any clichés? See if you can rework them so they vanish and fresh writing takes their place. Your editor will thank you for it. Your readers will too. 

Annette M. Irby

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Annette M. Irby has two published books and runs her own freelance editing business, AMI Editing. Her next book releases in early 2015. She is also an acquisitions editor for Pelican Book Group. See her page here on Seriously Write for more information.

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photo credit:  "young man thinking something by stockimages" on freedigitalphotos.net

 

Random Thoughts & Ideas to Spark Your Fiction Writing By Creston Mapes

A friend sent me six pages of his new novel. He wanted to get my feedback. I don’t have time to do this much anymore, but I owed him. I read the first six pages of his first attempt at fiction without taking any notes. Then I stuffed it in a book and am still letting it simmer.

Here’s what I need to tell him, and I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and share some of these insights with you, too.

• The story needs to begin right in the middle of an intriguing, tension-filled moment. Pick right up smack dab in the middle of the situation. Back story can come later, if at all. Who the characters are can come later. What they look like can come later. You must quarantine the reader in the first few pages of the book or you’ve lost him.
  
  On about page four of my friend’s manuscript, there was finally some dialogue and some conflict. “That is where his book needs to start!” I said aloud. The details can come later! His first four pages were all back story. Granted, those pages included a bunch of good ideas and it will all make for a good book. But all of that back story needs to be shown, not told, as the story unfolds. That brings me to my next point.
  
• Please, please, show and do not tell, because if you tell, no serious fiction editors are going to want to publish your book. This might take you awhile to learn, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes habit.
  
  Which gives the reader a better, more vivid and emotional picture of what the character is doing and feeling:
  
  He was nervous and thought about just leaving.
  
  Or…
  
  He drummed his fingers on the table, checked his watch and scanned the room to see if anyone would notice if he disappeared.
  
  The later shows. The former tells.
  
  The whole book needs to show. Just work a sentence at a time, showing. Soon you’ll have the hang of it. And keep adding new things. Don’t just keep rehashing the same old plot. Keep the story alive with new twists and turns that put readers on the edge of their seats.
  
  As for the back story you wanted to include right up front…much of that can be woven in later, throughout the manuscript, as you are showing the reader what happens, like a mesmerizing movie on the big screen.
  
• Write from one point of view (POV) at a time.
  
  I need to tell my friend that he needs to choose one character and to write from that character’s POV for the entire scene or chapter, then switch to another character’s POV. It’s as if you are that character and you are standing behind a video camera. You can see and hear what’s going on around you, but you cannot read other peoples’ minds. You can only write about what you see and hear and what you taste and smell.
  
  There will be more than one POV character. In the novel I’m writing now, I’m writing different scenes and chapters from the POV of 5-7 different characters. It’s a whole lot of fun getting into the mind of a bossy female antagonist, or in the head of an unsuspecting villain, or in the POV of a modern day hero. Again, get POV down and you’ll have mastered one of the top requirements in writing publishable fiction.
  
• Avoid clichés.
  
  Create unique names. Some of the favorites in my novels have included Everett Lester, Twila Yonder, Zane Bender, Gray Harris, Chester Holte, Hudson Ambrose, and Granger Meade. This is important. It sets your book and characters apart.
  
  Create unique storylines. If it’s been done too often and we can predict what’s going to happen, as they say in the Bronx, forgetaboutit! When you’re at a turning point in the book, think up five to seven options of what could happen, and choose the most flabbergasting one! Remember, tension on every page is what you want to keep pulling the reader along with you!
  
• Don’t write too much.
  
  I’ve passed my 500 word limit!

I hope you’ll read my thrillers and connect with me via my website, Twitter or Facebook.

About the Author

Creston Mapes is the author of Fear Has a Name, Nobody, Dark Star, and Full Tilt. A journalist, copywriter, and editor, he works from his home-office in Atlanta for some of the nation’s top media companies, Christian ministries, and nationally-recognized corporations. His early years as a reporter inspire many of his novels. Creston studied journalism at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and began his writing career 30 years ago. 

How Far Would He Go To Keep Them Safe?

It was more than a break-in. More than a stalking. It was personal. When a stalker targets his family, journalist Jack Crittendon must uncover who the person is and what his motives are—if he is to protect the ones he loves. It will lead Crittendon into a world of behind-closed-door secrets and faith gone awry, as does his investigation of a missing pastor, whose apparent suicide is more than it appears. Each move Crittendon makes weaves him tighter and tighter into a web of lies, greed, hypocrisy, sin, and danger. He believed he’d never give in to feareHAnd it leads to. But that was before. And holding on to his faith won’t be easy. Nor will keeping his family safe, and ending the terror. Because that might require him to step over lines he never dared to cross.

www.CrestonMapes.com

www.Twitter.com/CrestonMapes

www.Facebook.com/Creston.Mapes

What to Do with Cliché Characters: Two Tips and a Twist

Happy Wednesday! Ocieanna here. Don’t forget to leave your writing questions in the comments section (or contact me privately through ocieanna.com). I’d love to answer them!

Recently a friend asked me how to handle cliché characters. What do you do when your story calls for a character, but you’ve met him too many times in novels before, like a mean boss, a frumpy best friend, an ignorant gold miner, a wizard, you know, the folks who show up in every book?

Good question.

First, the obvious. Dump the character. If you can get by without the wizard, banish him. Sometimes characters creep into our stories not because they fit, but because we feel obligated. All romances have frumpy best friends, so mine must need one too. Maybe your story does require one, but maybe not. Stop and evaluate the best friend’s purpose. Can the story survive without her? If it can, you might just want to break off the friendship. Sorry, honey, you’ve got to go!

Second, switch it up. Sometimes you can’t just nix the gal. In my book, Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, my protagonist works at an orphanage. So, of course, there’s a headmistress … Ding ding ding! A headmistress at an orphanage rings the cliché bell, doesn’t it?

A selfish, mean, ugly villainess immediately shoots to mind, along with images from Little Orphan Annie and The Little Princess. I couldn’t cut her because she played a key role in the plot, so I intentionally made sure she wasn’t anything like Annie’s Miss Hanigan. Instead she’s kindhearted, yet dimwitted. She always wants to help, but ends up hurting those she loves despite her good intentions. A headmistress with a twist.

There’s the key. A cliché character can stay if she must, but tweak her a bit. Can you think of how to mix up any other cliché characters? What if the wizard lost his powers and was forced to depend on his knowledge of botany instead? Or rather than an ignorant gold miner, he’s college-educated with a deep back story explaining why he’s mining for gold instead of teaching physics at university.

Third—and perhaps most provocative—maybe you just have to keep your cliché character the way she is. Gasp! This makes me cringe a little because I’m the president of the anti-cliché society, but think of it this way. We all want to feel a sense of coming home when we read a novel. A familiar character is like having a friend guide us through the new world. Perhaps that’s why movies and books with characters we’ve all seen so many times do well. Star Wars, Twilight, and Harry Potter are obvious examples.

I recently watched Notting Hill again. The folks who put out this film also did Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually among others. Similar characters show up in all of these films. Very similar. Especially the quirky friends, the shy hero, and the distant, slightly mysterious, sought-after girl. Yet, maybe these films are popular partly because audiences know what to expect.

Of course if you let these cliché-types stay, it’s important to craft them carefully. Make your wizard, frumpy friend, or gold miner so pristinely believable your readers won’t even notice she’s met her before. I’m not saying to embrace clichés—no way! But your readers may actually appreciate a few friends to cozy up to.

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment and let me know!