Creative use of cliches

To cliché or not to cliché, that is not the question.
An essay

Nicholas Fourikis

‘I’m a Nazi when I see clichés,’ Helen told me the other day. Is she right or should I assume she has a blind spot?
Helen is a long standing friend. She is also an interesting writer with a degree in creative writing under her belt. I admire her in many ways but she can’t stand anyone using clichés.
In many ways she is right because clichés express something that has become overly familiar or common place, stale, stereotypical and timeworn. Writers are supposed to be creative, and we are expected not to use words that have a timeworn ring to them.
As John Simon notes in Paradigms Lost, Vanity of a peacock is to imagery what a twenty-times-used blade is to shaving.
‘I love the twinkle in your eyes.’ Is a tired cliché that is too generic to be useful? It could apply to a cockatoo, for instance.
The trouble is that we all use clichés in our conversations. It’s natural therefore to allow our characters to use clichés. Moreover the clichés our characters use define their socioeconomic milieu, their frustrations or exhilarations. In many ways clichés reveal character.
Writing a novel without using clichés would be like describing a world that has no cultural resonances. In a less abstract way our book would be like a beautiful empty house waiting for carpets and pictures. It would have all possibilities. It could become a palace or a brothel.
If there was a way we can use clichés creatively we will have the best of all possible worlds. No one could accuse us of not being creative and we would be mining the cultural treasures clichés offer. Is this quest a pie in the sky misadventure? The answer is a firm and unequivocal “No.”
In passing, and it’s only in passing, did you notice how creative Simon was with the title of his book Paradigms Lost? (Remember Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost?)
If this example is too literary try the following:
She is the cow in the ointment.
It was lust at first bite.
He is a legend in his soup.
These are clichés that some creative writer tweaked – twichés. Here are some more from reference [1]
A media guru described Madonna’s latest diet Footloose and Fat-Free.
George W Bush has gone from abject wealth to riches, Jon Stewart quipped.
A legend in his own mind
‘A good tweak,’ the author of reference [1] writes, ‘leads readers one way, then jerks them into the delight-giving realm of surprise.’
Is that all we can do to infuse life into timeworn clichés? Definetely “Not” because creativity knows no bounds.
Tom Skinner an Australian author wrote Round Fish, Square Bowl - a children’s book full of clichés [2]. It’s OK to be different was the message of Tom’s book.
As you can imagine I cannot reproduce all his clichés in this essay but here are some samples that would elate you.
If you are as slow as a tortoise don’t worry because the tortoise often beats the hare.
If you are mad as a hatter, the madder the merrier.
If you are an ugly duckling, remember ugly ducklings turn into beautiful swans.
I’m sure you get the drift of Tom’s beautifully illustrated book. Parenthetically it is worth noting Tom abandoned his boring day job, sold his house, and educated himself to become a great writer. He dedicated his book

To Mum
For the immovable belief that being different was my virtue rather than my millstone.

Thank you Tom and Helen. Nazi or not I owe her a lot for inspiring me to take time off and reflect on clichés.

[1] A. Plotnik. Twist worn expressions into winners. The Writer. Aug 2006. p15
[2] T. Skinner. Round fish, square bowl. 2006. New Frontier Publishing