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Tuesday 18 June 2013

The Cliche


Some cliches are as old as the hills,
some writers think anything goes,
but from time immemorial
we must say that strictly speaking
there's no smoke without fire
and we should avoid them like the plague --
unless we want our manuscripts
to be as dead as doornails, that is.
After all, at this moment in time --
not to mention the end of the day --
the bottom line (not to mention
the name of the game) should be
to leave no stone unturned, and to
explore every avenue that avoids
the use of threadbare language.

Cliches was the theme suggested for this week at mindlovemisery

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love that last line "threadbare language" brilliant! Great advice, well done =)Reading everyone's submissions I have learned a few cliches don't know where I have been that I hadn't heard them a hundred times already lol

Leovi said...

Yes, I agree with you, it has to try to move all the stones, including immovable.

Brian Miller said...

or just make some new ones as well....reuse and recycle i say...smiles...fun piece dave

J Cosmo Newbery said...

Or as my wife, bless her, says: dead as a pancake.

jabblog said...

This made me smile. Cliches come too easily to the tongue and save us thinking too hard;-)

Outlawyer said...

One good turn of phrase deserves another. Very charming. Dave. This is Karin of Manicddaily Wordpress but blogger wants me to use old blogger blog. K.

George S Batty said...

cleverly put together and fun to read

Helen said...

Truisms make for entertaining poems! I enjoyed this, Dave.

PS, true story ~ an English teacher once told me I was being 'unoriginal' when I used a few cliches in a story. Many years ago .. OUCH, still stings.

Anonymous said...

Flows together really well

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

You have highlighted a fundamental issue...How terrible it is when people let themselves be dominated by cliches without realizing that.

The Weaver of Grass said...

What a clever little poem Dave. Well done.

Hannah Stephenson said...

Impressive! AND instructive....

Cliches are interesting. I see them in student essays quite often....I wonder if it comes from a lack of trust in one's own voice (or thinking that what we say plainly isn't "exciting" enough).

Elephant's Child said...

And a rolling phrase gathers no moss. Brilliant Dave - thank you.

Carl said...

I agree with you. As artists we all need to explore. It is ok to cover old ground while we learn our craft, but creating is art.

Ygraine said...

I guess as writers, we're all a little afraid of falling victim to the cliché trap.
I know I do it often...probably too often! Haha.

ps, I apologise for not visiting as often as I'd like, but I'm currently on a camping trip and the connection is dismal!

Optimistic Existentialist said...

I find myself using cliches too frequently sometimes. But hey, they're cliches because they're true. Right?

A Cuban In London said...

I love the poem but as a non-native speaker who likes to think outside of the box I don't know when I am using a cliche. It's all that blue-sky thinking that we do at the school where I work to make sure we give 100% to stretch students. Not just curriculum-wise, mind you, but also extra-curriculum because at the end of the day it's not just what you learn in the classroom that counts but also what you pick up all over the place. :-)

Greetings from London.

haricot said...

I'd like to know as much as cliches in English and in my mother language. They include a lot of wisdom from olden days.

haricot said...

Sorry, I didn't understand well about the meaning of cliche. So, my previous comment became very ironical one.

Anonymous said...

I'm sometimes cliche-y. Now I have to stop ;o. Actually, I like haricot's comment.

Mary said...

Very wise words here, Dave!! Really hard not to use cliches though, I think. They flow so naturally in one's conversation. Hope all is well. It has been a few days since you posted a poem.

fus said...

Me ha gustado mucho tu entrada. Enhorabuena

un abrazo

fus

Elephant's Child said...

Dave, are you OK?

Anonymous said...

The new prompt is up Dave its a free share so anything goes old or new

Rose said...

:) Oh, well done! I personally don't think there is anything wrong with the cliché. as you have demonstrated it could add a touch of humour to any piece. I do also believe that clichés originate from colloquial language and add a richness to writing in any chosen language. However, there is a thin line to tread between enriching a manuscript with clichés and
burdening it with, as you so cleverly put it, 'threadbare language'.

Brian Miller said...

hey man, its been nearly a week and i hope you are just on vacation or something....

Piotr LA said...

I hope you continue to have such quality articles
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