WRITER'S JOURNAL

How much cliché can you get

Do you know what I'm most afraid of as a writer? We all know it, and we've all heard about it: clichés. I know how it feels when you realize that what you thought was your own pure, original idea may not be the case-someone had already done it. You feel miserable, and then what? You might end up throwing your notebook in the trash or deleting the document on your PC, wasting paper, ink, electricity, and the cup of coffee you drank each night to finish that chapter. But what if we've somehow misunderstood clichés? What if we're wrongly accusing ideas of being cliché when they could actually be beneficial to some extent? If you've done thorough research on ways to improve your novel writing skills online, you'll come across a lot of contradicting ideas. I remember back in senior high, we were asked to research how to write a novel, and the first contradicting idea I encountered was outlining a novel in detail versus not outlining at all and letting the story reveal itself as you write. Some call these two methods plotting versus pantsing. These ideas left me confused for a while. The thing is, are we certain that these two methods actually demonstrate an absolute contradiction? Honestly, neither of the two is wrong. Instead of looking at them as contradicting ideas, why not consider them as two completely different approaches you can freely use, rather than limiting yourself to one? A sugar wouldn't complement every dinner table you serve; sometimes salt is more preferable for certain occasions. In clichés, we've all heard that we shouldn't write a cliché. On the other hand, we've also heard that most ideas are already cliché. Do you see the contradiction? That's where I want you to meander around as we delve deeper.
First, we should know why readers read your work in the first place. It could be your hook, your plot, or sometimes it's your characters in the story. As a writer, of course, you want readers to immerse themselves in your story. If you fail to make readers want more, chances are your story will be left untouched as the dust of time gathers around it. Well, that is if you have a physical copy. But if it's on your PC, then digitalized dust would work. It's recommended to stay away from clichés since they drive away readers from your story. The reason? Readers tend to feel as if they've read the story countless times already and they seek more refreshing ones. But is it the cliché idea that causes this problem? Think about it. How many films have you watched with characters dying that made you teary-eyed? What about a guy saving a damsel in distress? Or how about a character waking up in the morning and brushing their teeth? Although personally, I consider this one a bad cliché. Simply put, clichés are bits of ideas you may use. The problem arises when a writer writes a cliché story, meaning your story contains a series of phrases, ideas, or expressions that have been seen and made countless times already, making it too predictable due to excessive use. As a result, readers lose interest. Take note, cliché ideas aren't the actual problem we should resolve, but rather the efficacy of grabbing readers' attention to your story. If a cliché is causing you to lose readers, then you should first think: is my story cliché, or have I wrongly used an already cliché idea in my story?
But is there such thing as a cliché idea? Unfortunately, there are clichés as well in terms of ideas, but on the bright side, we can use and not use them. There are bad clichés and good clichés. Bad clichés tend to drive readers away. Take, for example, the most common scenario we all know: a girl waking up, brushing her teeth, eating breakfast, going to school, and bumping into her love interest. Hey! Try to imagine if you remove all the unnecessary nonsense at the beginning; you will be left with her meeting her love interest. The scene is more sudden and will make your readers immediately hook into the story. Well, I know your worries. You feel as if your chapter becomes shorter; that is the topic I want to tackle next time. What about good clichés? Good clichés come out righteous if used in the right scenario. A villain becoming the protagonist's loyal friend is a cliché. If you do not have a solidified reason for doing this, then it would likely falter; again, it should be done with purpose. However, if you serve the justice of your characters' clichéd actions, such as their intent, plan, purpose, realization, etc., then there's no harm in using cliché ideas.
I do not recommend intentionally writing a cliché, as most likely your story would come out cliché. It's harder to fix a cliché that is taken out of cliché than your own cliché idea. Are you confused? If you're a writer, then you must create your own story. If you later discover that your idea has some similarities to other stories, it would be much easier to fix those clichés rather than basing your story on others' work from the start. The next question is, should you remove a cliché idea? If you intentionally put a cliché to make it interesting, even if it isn't, then definitely remove it. A great story is composed of relevant scenes and events. That being said, if a certain cliché has relevance in your story, then why remove it? As they say, we should write with a purpose, and that includes considering which scenes and events to include or not in our story.
Have you heard the word "tropes"? No, this isn't about soldiers' colleagues, so stop thinking of it. Tropes are said to be recurring patterns, themes, motifs, plot devices, plot points and storyline that are intentionally used to convey an idea or elicit certain responses from the readers. Sounds like a good cliché, right? Well, that's because people often mistaken tropes and clichés to be the same thing when they are not. This is due to the nature of both sides that is seemingly repetitive in use. Tropes are story elements or story type that never grow old while cliché is a notion that something had already been over used and lacks originality. The thing is cliché were actually tropes that, due to excessive use, became what we all know today as cliché. Since that is the case, we have leeway to first assess whether an idea still holds the impact we desire before jumping to the conclusion that it's a cliché. Remember, cliché in creative writing is not always the idea itself but how these ideas are being presented. If you just become more creative, then there's no doubt that a cliché would become a usable trope again. At last, let me emphasize that there are tropes that seems to never get old.
Clichés are ideas. A story is composed of multiple ideas. Disregarding cliché as an idea is very limiting. Still, you need to assess whether a certain tactic you used in your story is actually applicable. A glitter would not always look good in every art. The same applies to stories. It requires a certain approach to reach its potential. That is why you should be versatile in every aspect, such as plot device, point of view, writing process, etc. A writer must be intelligent in their craft.
In the end, don't create a cliché story, but you may use cliché ideas in your story, but only if they are relevant. Cliché is still permissible, unlike plagiarizing; never copy someone's work. Put it into your perspective that if your story has too many similarities to others, then that's cliché. But if you are using a slice of cliché idea in your own story, then you're using it to spice up your story. We always look at cliché as a threat, even if it also comes as a minuscule idea that we all want in the beginning. We're fixated on its negative impacts to the point we subconsciously disregard a more important thing in producing a uniquely made novel. Sometimes we are just writing a story, completely forgetting that a story is a form of art. Don't be a writer of a story; be a creative writer of a story.