|
About This Author
My name is Joy, and I love to write.
Why poetry, here? Because poetry uplifts its writer, and if she is lucky enough, her readers, too. Around us, so many objects abound to write about. Once a poet starts with a smallest, most trivial object, he shall discover that his pen will spill out what is most delicate or most majestic hidden inside him. Since the classics sometimes dealt with lofty subjects with a lofty language, a person with poetry in his soul may incline to emulate that. That is understandable. Poetry does that to a person: it enlarges the soul and gives it wings. Yet, to really soar, a poet needs to take off from the ground.
 
|
The Writing-Practice Journal #202179 added October 28, 2002 at 12:44pm
Restrictions: None
Clichs
A cliché is a tired expression which has been and is being used over and over. Usually it is a metaphor or a simile that someone once uttered and it rooted itself into the vocabulary of the masses. Just for the fun of it, let me write down a few of them:
“starving to death” “I love him to death” “ a sitting duck” “crying one’s eyes out” “the spur of the moment” “blowing one’s top” “spread like wildfire” “work like a horse” “a place like a pigsty” “monkey business” “fate dealing a card” “lose track of time” “population explosion” “wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeves” “hit the ceiling” “drop like a ton of bricks” “bend over backwards” “when it rains, it pours” “he’s a dead duck” “money talks”
A cliché, because of its colloquial nature, is sometimes functional if used to give color to a character’s dialogue.
“Don’t follow me like a puppy, please, John,” she said.
“Man! The boy’s a freakin’ pig, I say!”
A cliché can be used wisely if the dead metaphor in it can be revived. Let me try to revive “money talks” if I may.
“He saw the young teller behind the glass partition count a stack of bills. As he waited and stared, the enticing whisper of the green begged and cajoled him into a romantic fascination. From then on, he knew he would follow that voice.”
In general, clichés are dangerous for amateurs and are used sparingly or avoided totally by serious writers. If I catch myself using clichés during a free-flow or a first draft, I later replace them or try to revive them in some way.
Today’s tip:
Writers read; readers write. :)
--------------------------------
:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)
My current ratings are given according to the SMS's guidelines
|
© Copyright 2002 Joy (UN: joycag at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Joy has granted InkSpot.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work. |
