Craft Chat JANUARY 2023 – CLICHÉS AND TROPES

[Ancora Imparo]

Happy New Year to you all and welcome to our Craft Chat for January 2023. This month we're looking at clichés and tropes, why they're popular, why they work and why we shouldn't overuse or abuse them. You'll have your own list and thoughts on what's best to avoid and why. Please feel free to share.

As before, the discussion thread will be open for FIVE DAYS from when we post the Chat. Let us know your thoughts. If you disagree with anything, that’s fine. Tell us why. We love hearing from you. All opinions are welcome and valid additions to our learning. Keep it civil.
Rachel (RK Capps), Galadriel, Kay (Ancora Imparo)

CLICHÉS
Universal sayings that succinctly communicate a universal truth, which everyone finds easy to understand.

Don’t give up; love conquers all; good overcomes evil (yeah, good luck with that); adversity strengthens; what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger; a fool and his money are soon parted… you know the score… There are thousands.

So why have clichés lasted so long? Why do we keep using them?

Well, like melodramatic soap operas and I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, they’re popular for a reason (though admittedly you might need the Magellan telescope to try and find reasons for those). One reason clichés remain popular is that as a means of communication about a universal truth, they work.

If there’s a lot of sneaky stuff going on at work and I tell you “just keep your head down”, you know what I mean. You might have heard it hundreds of times, but you’ll understand it. I don’t have to allude to the Alamo, or WWI, where raising your head to see what was going on could get it blown off. I’m using metaphor to warn you there are problems in the office and if you want to stay safe it’s best to keep your eyes open and your mouth shut and don’t draw attention to yourself. Four words do that: keep your head down. Yes, it’s a cliché but, in this case, familiarity breeds instant understanding.

Most times, we don’t mind that. It’s when writing that we have to be careful of clichés, because the best writers use fresh ways of creating worlds, communicating ideas, expressions, imagery and characters. If you’re editing your work and find a phrase you know has been over-used, consider re-working it. There is a fine line between something fresh and recognisable and something so over-used it’s boring. Find a better way of saying what you mean.

But understand that clichés are not just a lazy way of saying things we all know. They’re good advice reduced to their essence, and that’s also a good example to writers. Keep your writing tight – just like clichés.

Also, as always, consider your intended reader.

When I was about eight we went on a beach holiday where the rocks were incredible. Dangerous, exciting, slippery, with the potential for injury – everything that gave me thrills and my mum palpitations. She yelled for me to come and sit quietly on the sand. My dad knew that was never going to happen. He joined me. “Stop looking at your feet,” he said, “use your eyes and look at where you want to go, or you’ll end up in one of those rock pools. Don’t stand on the seaweed or the green stuff – they’re slippery. And don’t run. Right?” And he stayed with me and taught me how to walk safely over rocks. Look before you leap. Four words -v- about forty.

The four-word version wouldn’t have worked on me. I’d kind of heard it, but it meant nothing to me. That’s what we have to take care with when dealing with any cliché, and it’s one of the reasons writers are warned against using them. Sometimes a saying is so over-used we become inured to the message. On the one hand it succinctly condenses great advice. On the other, if we don’t understand it or it isn’t fresh enough to hold our attention, we’ll skip over it – blank it. And you don’t want your reader to skip over anything in your story. At eight, I wouldn’t have understood the subtleties of “look before you leap” in relation to my specific circumstances. I needed the long version. My dad instinctively personalised the cliché to cover the situation and my determination. He made his advice specific, detailed and personal, which he couldn’t have done by just saying Look Before You Leap and hoping I’d “get” it.

So, from writing for children, to writing for adults who didn’t major in English, to writing for those who love lexiconic challenges, it’s vital to know your reader. Fresh writing – ideas, characters, story – holds the reader’s attention. If you feel a cliché says everything you want to say for the scene / character / situation / dialogue, and you’re convinced that’s what your reader needs to help them understand, use it. Or…try rewriting it as concisely as you can, ten different ways, and see what you come up with. You may surprise yourself and delight your reader with something fresh and original.

TROPES
Trope: a “significant or recurrent theme”. It’s not just words and expressions that have been used before. With “well-worn” tropes, ideas, characters, plots, even worlds can become clichéd and over-used – like the fantasy world that’s exactly like our medieval world, except with "magic" and without any civic heirarchy or functioning road or transport system.

But – and it's an important but – even when a trope has been used hundreds of times before, even when the trope ticks all the cliché boxes, they can still sell. Readers can still be drawn to them and still enjoy them – depending on the (fresh) angle the writer takes. The story of Cinderella – poor girl meets prince / rich man, they fall in love and live happily ever after – is over a thousand years old, some say two. This became the film Pretty Woman in the 1990s. Made over $460 million. People still watch it on Netflix. Not bad for an old trope that was around before Charlemagne was massacring Saxons. King Kong? (Beauty and the Beast) – made over $562 million. Study every successful book or film and you’ll find tropes that press (millions of) readers’ / watchers’ buttons.

Do you need clichés? No, but remember their universal message and the strength of brevity. Do you need tropes? Yes, because that’s your direct route into the reader’s unconscious and the wonder of archetypes. But bring your unique perspective to any trope and make it fresh.

Here are some popular character tropes:
The wise old man / woman (mentor, teacher, trainer)
Fairy Godmother
The Girl Next Door
Reluctant Hero / ine … the Who Me? I’m not The Chosen One, I’m just… (fill in the blank)
The Healer
The Superhero

Plotlines:
Rags to Riches
Rebirth
The Quest
Fighting the Monster
David and Goliath

These are just a few examples – there are dozens more. Google Tropes and you’ll find lots.

Here’s the thing: it’s all been done before. As with music (set number of notes); or art (set number of primary colours), the vital component in any work of “art” is the creator, and that’s you. Whether you’re drawing, painting, weaving, sewing, sculpting, writing…as soon as you bring the uniqueness of you into the equation, there is a synergy. As soon as you pick up a paintbrush, sit down with a musical instrument, take chisel to marble or wood, or put pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard – with an idea, there is the potential for you to create something wonderful and original. Because only you can mix the colours, or the notes, or the words, according to your unique vision.

And, yes, sometimes you don’t even need the idea. Incredible work is produced just by adding a human being to a paintbrush, an instrument, some clay or a writing implement and saying Go and play …

For 2023 Rachel, Galadriel and I wish you the time to play, and every success in your writing.
Ancora Imparo

 

[Hannah F]

When writing historical fiction, take great care that any cliche used, in narrative or dialogue, actually existed in your book's era.

 

[Ancora Imparo]

When writing historical fiction, take great care that any cliche used, in narrative or dialogue, actually existed in your book's era.

Ah, yes, great advice, @Hannah F – like saying a medieval soldier felt like a rabbit caught in headlights...

 

[Matthew WP]

Here we go! It's like a smorgasbord of the delightful human condition!

Tropes - TV Tropes

Specifically for writers, narratives!

Narrative Tropes

 

[Dorm Ant]

I love TV Tropes. I look up web comics and other media on it and nod along to all the tropes.

I like the way that many have cultural variations. For example, "the girl next door" in Japanese popular culture, especially Manga is "glasses girl". She's the girl from school/college/work who is likeable, street-smart and kind. The sort of girl that the hero is happy to take home to meet his or her mother. The quietly attractive one, not the bitch, the gang leader or the sexy, promsicuous one. She almost always wears glasses.

One of my favourite film and cartoon tropes is this: Power Walk - TV Tropes

In books, there's too many great tropes to name. You just have to look one up and get lost down a link hole.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Here we go! It's like a smorgasbord of the delightful human condition!

Tropes - TV Tropes

Specifically for writers, narratives!

Narrative Tropes

Great websites. Lots of fun and insight in both.

 

[Vagabond Heart]

Great Craft Chat, as usual. Well done.
The thing about cliches, for me, is that as soon as the reader can predict what the next words they read are going to be they skip forward. They’ve just jumped out the text. They may even have memories associated with that cliche that pull them away for a moment. Either way, they’re not reading your words anymore.
So I prefer not to let them do that if I can help it.

 

[Pamela Jo]

Ah, yes, great advice, @Hannah F – like saying a medieval soldier felt like a rabbit caught in headlights...

There's actually a whole "Yankee in the Court of King Arthur" alternative series based on that image. My son is into the whole sci-fi-history mashup thing.

 

[Pamela Jo]

Putting this here because the concepts are all well-known yet somehow Sol Stein gives me a better handle on them.

---

5. Focus on ‘Immediate’ scenes​

Stein argues that one of the key reasons behind the rejection of many novels is the inordinate amount of static description. The reader does not want long-winding narratives or redundant descriptions.

The reader wants to see immediate scenes – adversarial dialogues, combative arguments, vivid action.

“An immediate scene happens in front of the reader, is visible, and therefore filmable. That’s an important test. If you can’t film a scene, it is not immediate.”
Sol Stein

6. No wimps​

Readers are not interested in wimps. They want assertive characters. I mean you don’t read novels in order to experience the boredom that you often experience in life.

You want to meet extraordinary people, preferably, people different from anyone you’ve met in or out of fiction.

7. Vulnerability first​

Show a character’s vulnerability before you show his strengths.

8. Show them nude​

Show your character in the nude. This one almost always works if you portray your character (in the nude) honestly and in detail.

People seen in the nude are immediately credible or vulnerable.

9. Accentuate differences​

Accentuate social and cultural differences in your characters to arouse emotions. Stein instructs to play on the inherent otherness in everybody.

10. Highlight your character’s want​

The more urgent the want, the greater the reader’s interest.
If your character doesn’t want something badly enough, the reader will have a hard time rooting for him to attain his goal.

11. Thrill them with unexpected​

Readers enjoy being thrilled by the unexpected. New obstacles, a sudden twist of circumstances, etc., tug at their heartstrings.
Experiencing a character’s embarrassment also engages the reader. It always creates an interesting plot development.

12. Add conflict​

The audience likes to see conflict. The secret of creating conflict is to give your characters different and opposing goals.
Magic happens when your audience is expecting your characters to behave in a certain way, but, thanks to your out-of-left-field twist, they are left jaw-dropped.

13. Prolong the crisis​

Don’t let the character overcome the immediate danger without facing an even greater danger. Make certain his/her action backfires or gets counteracted immediately.

14. Straight past tense​

Most fiction is written in the straight past tense.
Had, emphasizes Stein, is your enemy no 1. It spoils more flashbacks than any other word.

15. Keep’em on the tenterhooks​

No other factor affects readers as much as suspense does. Stein instructs to keep the suspense steady by shifting action from one location to another.
If you have seen any of Christopher Nolan’s movies, you’d know what Stein meant by ‘shifting action’.

16. Less is more​

Don’t fill the reader’s envelope with unnecessary details. Leave room for him to imagine stuff.
For the reader’s imagination, less is more. You only have to trigger his stimuli and let his imagination do the rest. Instead of describing the terror of characters in detail, let the reader feel it.

17. Remove all adjectives​

“If you catch an adjective, kill it!”
Mark Twain

Stein instructs the potential authors to remove all adjectives, adverbs and metaphors from the manuscript and then re-admit the necessary few after careful testing.

18. Use catchy titles ​

The primary function of a title is not to provide the locus of a story, but to entice the reader. Look at the following titles:
The Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, For Whom the Bell Tolls, How to Cook a Wolf

19. Persevere to develop your own voice​

“An extremely small percentage of writers show signs of an original voice at the outset. It usually develops over time, and has two components, the originality of what is said and the originality of the way it is said.”
Sol Stein

20. Be prepared to walk through fire​

Don’t be afraid to deal with taboo topics – topics that can trigger controversy or arouse emotions. Stein stresses that it’s a writer’s responsibility to speak the unspoken. He states:
“A writer can’t be a Pollyanna. He is in the business of writing what other people think but don’t say.”

21. Hallmark of a solid storytelling​

All storytelling from time immemorial is based on somebody wanting something, failing to achieve it, facing obstacles, overcoming high odds, beating strong adversaries, etc.
If your plot follows a different course, it may not be strong enough to sustain the reader’s interest.

22. Use all six of your senses​

Sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Writers neglect touch, taste and smell. But if you are to enrich a layman’s experience, you must deploy all senses at your craft. Look at the following example of Stein’s use of smell in his writing
“Down and down we went. I stopped counting the stairs. The dank smell told me we were well below ground.”
That said, Stein cautions that it’s not an easy exercise, but to have a successful writing career, your job is to look for distinguishing details and express what you want your reader to see.

 

[Hannah F]

The witch added toe of bat and tongue of dog to the cauldron. She stirred. But her heart wasn't in it.

 

[BrianY]

Well, this has gotten me thinking about the cliches and tropes of food writing and I'm really torn. I really want to be the grizzled old guy that wanders urban back streets for exotic meals and ingredients. My wife? She could be the expat that cooks the dishes of her childhood with relentless authenticity. My neighbors? They could be the guys who keep their children up all night in order to teach them how to properly smoke a whole beef brisket, or maybe those women who not only put every meal on the table - they know its nutritive values exactly and what allergens they contain.

Let's not forget the classic trope tough guys in chef's whites or the newly emerging trope of drag queens that cook local comfort foods.

All these people really exist in large numbers! I don't think they/we were born that way, we're acting a part that we've seen in media.

 

[Dorm Ant]

With regards to chefs, though, the job shapes their character. In a hot, humid, windowless kitchen, on your feet for 13 hour shifts, with burns and scalds to wrists and hands being an almost everyday occurrence, you toughen up. You shout, because people are cooking different dishes to order and they all have to reach the pass at the same time. You can't co-ordinate that by talking, or by leaving your pass to go over and speak to the others. You whack other chefs on the arse with a towel or ladle, because you constantly invade each other's space and the only way to deal with the awkwardness is to over compensate. You take drugs sometimes, because you will leave work reeking and disheveled anyway, so nobody cares if you turn up that way. Also, if it's busy and you're pulling extra or longer shifts, simply relaxing with a beer at 1am doesn't always cut it.

The pot washers (KPs) usually have criminal records and/or speak almost no English because it's one of the few jobs where you won't be asked for a CV or have to communicate with anyone, except in banter. A KP can literally keep their head down and get paid cash in hand.

 

[BrianY]

RG, I think this means that in nonfiction, the tropes are real.

 

[RK Wallis]

I look at tropes this way. I love to cook. Give me a recipe, but for the life of me, following it bores me or doesn't work with my pantry/fridge. However, I will use some staple or basic ingredients to make my own dish. Tropes are the same. Use what you like and then mix them with your skill set.

Cliches are different. To me, cliches exist to twist and make fresh.

 

[Bloo]

Great Craft Chat, as usual. Well done.
The thing about cliches, for me, is that as soon as the reader can predict what the next words they read are going to be they skip forward. They’ve just jumped out the text. They may even have memories associated with that cliche that pull them away for a moment. Either way, they’re not reading your words anymore.
So I prefer not to let them do that if I can help it.

So. Much. This.

Clichés can be a lot like spoilers. The reader knows what's coming because they've seen or heard it before.

 

[Ancora Imparo]

Thanks, everyone. As usual, lots of welcome and interesting additons to the Craft Chat. This thread will now be closed.