Nij

The problem with cliches (not the big plot-based ones, but those little descriptive phrases that fall onto the page so easily, that round off the sentence so nicely), is that they are too perfect. Writers throughout the decades have discovered their perfection, and use them over and over and over and over again. Thus, anyone trying to write anything new has already been brainwashed into churning out these little phrases, parrot-fashion. Since these cliches are already perfect, by definition, nothing else quite hits the mark - changing them is doomed to failure.

Here is one of the bloody things that has wasted at least half an hour of my valuable life as I struggle for a respectable alternative:

"It was an insular community; the gossip spread like wildfire"

Anyone got any suggestions apart from "wildfire"?

Or does anyone else have an annoying cliche they want to get off their chests? (read your own prose, I bet you'll find it's full of them )

Cheers
N

Guineapiggy

wildfire isn't a cliche. It's wild fire, a forrest fire, scrub fire. "Spead like wildfire"... yeah, that's cliched but I don't remember ever using that outside speech. They are occasionally hard to avoid but not often, you just have to be imaginative, for example in place of 'Stood out like a sore thumb' I believe I'm the only person so far to have used 'Keeping himself to himself as he negotiated his safe passage wasn’t easy, a blatant foreigner, let alone a skinny, paranoid teenager with girly hair stood out like a beauty queen in a… bizarre… homoerotic way…'

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Fantasia

How about, "Gossip spread like peanutbutter!"

Not very good, is it?

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Lily

hmm . . . I think just saying that it was an insular community is enough, but I'm only saying that because I really can't think of any other way to say 'gossip spread like wildfire'. If it were me, I'd say, 'It was one of those communities where everyone knew everyone else's business'. Kind of cliched, too, and not as effective as the wildfire one, I admit, but still . . . hm. That's an interesting challenge you've put up for us. I must go and think this one out. I do like the peanut butter suggestion, though!

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Nazareth

Gossip spread like the plague = double implications as gossip is related to something of like nature- both are destructive- this subtly gives the reader a bit more to think about with just one little sentance

Punchclock

Gossip spread like the mydoom virus.

Savannah

Gossip infested the town.

Gossip turned into a community festivity, in which everyone participated.

Just a couple off the top of my head.

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Anvilsmith

Consider every aspect, real or alleged, about gossiping. Draw metaphors upon the metaphors most likely to be understood, or choose some of the less obvious ones and take care to explain them. If you find that your sentence structrue encourages you to use clichees, break the grammar or try to find a rhythm that evokes the subject, and use it. Since the clichees you're thinking of won't likely fit your new rhythm or grammar, you'll find it easier to build something original (particularly when you've chosen a rhythm/sentence structure you can easily work with).

One of the problems might be that you don't take enough aspects of your work into consideration: you might be able to express a simple concept with a lot of variety (that's what I did with smiling back when I was playing MUDs), but it would help if you related it to its context. Note that I usually don't have a problem with clichees, as I seem to naturally avoid being unoriginal and usually censor myself when my writing feels written by someone else. It also has to do with the fact that I don't read clichee-ridden fiction like action books and newspapers. I suppose that, if you forbid yourself from using clichees, it'll be much easier for you to make up something original.

The best thing about not using clichees is that, while they're not perfect in any sense, they don't require either the writer or reader to think. They don't need explanations, just like proverbs don't need demonstrations, even though they might feel grossly twisted when read by an unbiased individual. Original work, however, must be aligned to the reader's logic in some way, or (as some of the best writings tend to do) reshape his logic to fit its own. People just don't immediately recognize an original statement, and appeal to their logic to make sense of it. When the reader agrees to think about it, it promotes his interest and gives him a much more thorough picture of what you're trying to describe. Also, by having to explain what something means after you've written it, you're creating a need to continue writing as well as a clear goal of what to write - originality can drag you out of some types of writer's block.

But you probably aready knew that. Anyway...

"It was a small community. So small, in fact, that any breeze of fate could stir its citizens into a gossip-spewing frenzy."

"Protected from the bustle of the outside world, this small society has to turn inwards for excitement. Often, the most trivial commotion serves its members' gleeful banter." (this one needs some work, especially at the end.)

"Suprisingly, the group's isolationist tenets have kept its atmosphere quite social: without the goings of the outside world to fret about, they let the local gossip spoil their need for conversation." (the writer would have to suggest the alternate meaning of "spoil" in the previous paragraphs, as it would sound shocking otherwise - most people associate spoiling with curdling rather than with pleasing someone beyond merit)

"It was a speck of a community, rampant with gossip and [fill in the blanks... "rampant with gossip" doesn't make much of a sentence end, as it cuts the rhythm short]."

"Upon the mountain's lap, in a community of bored and isolated folk, an avalanche of gossip follows every snowdrop."
*or*, less coherently,
"Beneath the sordid mountain, where sludge from the half-melted snowscapes flows along the dirt-clad streets, every snowdrop turns an avalanche for the bored, chatter-hungry folk."

Nij

Thanks for that Anvilsmith,

I take your point about approaching it from a different direction - the problem I always end up with is that to get around a cliche requires twice as many words, which tends to bring everything grinding to a halt, and I end up editing out in the end. I think this is the sort of thing that sorts out a mediocre writer from a good one, so I shall continue struggling with them.

I like Savannah's infestation though. "gossip infested the town like an invidious disease" - good for a historical story, perhaps?

Nij

Actually, it was a combination of Savannah and Nazareth

Penelope

How about the gossip spread like Cheez Whiz?

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gabriella

Your best bet is to edit your novel and look only for those cliches. Highlight all of them, and then go through them all and work out a much better and more original simile/metaphor/personification/etc.

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Anvilsmith

Train your readers... Build some senseless little clichees, possibly as parts of the story world, then apply them periodically once the readers have become comfortable with them. Make sure they're explained, preferably through the characters or some other in-game* source of information... This can actually be turned into a character development tool when you're writing from a first person perspective (or come close to that): the descriptions you give can later include some clichees from a certain culture, to show that the character is getting integrated into that culture.

*Okay... Does anyone know the static-fiction equivalent to "in-game"? In-story doesn't work, and neither does "local" or "fictional"...

speculative

If it is important to say how the gossip spread, then consider going into a bit more detail. For example:

Otherwise, perhaps don't tell the reader that gossip spread. Simply say something like,

davewriter

The rules for cliches, as mentioned to me in a group I belong to called Night Writers, is that they're only allowed in quotes. This is why I'm always quick to point out cliches out of quotations, whether it's at a Night Writers meeting when someone is reading something, or when I'm commenting on pieces on this site.

The trouble with cliches, however, is that there are so many, it's sometimes hard to tell what is and what isn't cliche. I'd suggest that everyone receive a full list of cliches to look out for, except I remember one of my fellow Night Writers, Al O'Neil, remarking that by the time you get to the end of that list, theres more new cliches to be added.

Yes, friends, it's that bad, and it's the more reason why quotations become more and more important in pieces these days. Does anyone find this as frustrating as I do?