I am so guilty of the mirror thing.  It's such a cop out, I know, but as said.  It's so easy.  I'm really glad this was brought up.  Weakness is weak!  Must be strong!  Lol, thanks for this.  Makes me realize that my editor is invaluable because of his ability to spot bullsh--- erm, clichés...

Yeah this abuse trope. It's amateurish, and just upsetting. **cough, cough fifty shades of grey** The problem is writers feel stuck with their irredeemable bad-boy hero who should be worthy of love from the love interest.  Instead of working on making this hero work slowly to likeability, they whip out abuse for instant sympathy from the reader.  "Uh-huh, my mom force-fed me carrots, my uncle, father, brother raped me as a child, that's why I'm being an ass to you. Can you love me now?" That isn't a cool hero, that's one pathetic piece of work.

Another cliche. mismatched couples, where one is a saint, the other has some really deep issues that needs fixing.  the saint saves the sinner and in the process find true love. Yeah...Beauty and the beast all over again. this stories are easy to write about because the problems come ready made to explore, but they make for boring and unrealistic fiction.

One exception might be dialogue which is often culture based and riddled with cliches.

Thanks, I enjoyed this article. 

Libby -

Brava!!! Well said indeed.  Some of things you outlined do indeed cause me to roll my eyes, toss the book aside - if it's not on my Nook - or otherwise just not care about it any more.  Since the list was never meant to be exhaustive, I won't add my pet peeves of writing, but the message is spot on - the best writing takes work, not using cliches and well worn tropes. But the finished product is so much better and so much more memorable to the reader.

Thanks for this.

-AQG

Excellent points Libby!  And a good point by Conner as well.  I like to sneak in an occasional 420 reference for my own amusement from time to time, but I'm giving myself a pass on that one. :-)

Love getting tips as a new writer here.  I have read these clichés many times over. Thanks

I am so guilty of the mirror thing.  It's such a cop out, I know, but as said.  It's so easy.  I'm really glad this was brought up.  Weakness is weak!  Must be strong!  Lol, thanks for this.  Makes me realize that my editor is invaluable because of his ability to spot bullsh--- erm, clichés...

You're welcome. They slip in on everyone. That's why a sharp editor is worth their weight in gold.

Yeah this abuse trope. It's amateurish, and just upsetting. **cough, cough fifty shades of grey** The problem is writers feel stuck with their irredeemable bad-boy hero who should be worthy of love from the love interest.  Instead of working on making this hero work slowly to likeability, they whip out abuse for instant sympathy from the reader.  "Uh-huh, my mom force-fed me carrots, my uncle, father, brother raped me as a child, that's why I'm being an ass to you. Can you love me now?" That isn't a cool hero, that's one pathetic piece of work.

 

Another cliche. mismatched couples, where one is a saint, the other has some really deep issues that needs fixing.  the saint saves the sinner and in the process find true love. Yeah...Beauty and the beast all over again. this stories are easy to write about because the problems come ready made to explore, but they make for boring and unrealistic fiction.

Here's where I admit I never read 50 Shades. I just couldn't bring myself after reading this: http://jenniferarmintrout.blogspot.com/p/jen-reads-50-shades-of-grey.html?zx=843bd69a54b109b6    My favorite villain is one who really has no compelling reason to be evil. It makes me want to dig deeper into the story.

One exception might be dialogue which is often culture based and riddled with cliches.

Thanks, I enjoyed this article. 

You're welcome! Thanks for reading. Dialog is a different animal, but even then it pays to try to trim cliches so they appear only here and there.

Libby -

 

Brava!!! Well said indeed.  Some of things you outlined do indeed cause me to roll my eyes, toss the book aside - if it's not on my Nook - or otherwise just not care about it any more.  Since the list was never meant to be exhaustive, I won't add my pet peeves of writing, but the message is spot on - the best writing takes work, not using cliches and well worn tropes. But the finished product is so much better and so much more memorable to the reader.

 

Thanks for this.

 

-AQG

Thanks for reading and commenting. I'm glad it was useful.  You're right. The list is by no means exhaustive, and honestly I'd be interested in hearing what other tropes drive people crazy.

Excellent points Libby!  And a good point by Conner as well.  I like to sneak in an occasional 420 reference for my own amusement from time to time, but I'm giving myself a pass on that one. :-)

Mark, honey, you get a pass from me on whatever the hell you want.

Love getting tips as a new writer here.  I have read these clichés many times over. Thanks

You're welcome. I hope you found the article useful.

The mirror thing is a bit reflective on reality though. Your brain processes a dozen of information just by glancing yourself in the mirror. That is why most of us have the ability to notice unusual things happening on our faces, such as: a zit, a pimple, a new scar, a freckle, a flat mole, oily skin, irritated eyes, and the likes.

By having a glimpse at your face - even for a mere second -  provides you a cognitive framework of your facial structure and any changes that may have happened when you last had a look at your facial image. Most of us would have a second look as we see a reflection of our faces in a public restroom, and return to investigate if we notice something different, like having puffy eyes or even a small growing zit on your temple.

That's why you see so many writers doing this is because this is the nearest to reality, as we do it in our daily lives, by having a check of ourselves in the mirror to have our mental images of ourselves updated.

However, it would be safe to say that indeed, most people wouldn't describe themselves or speak to their consciousness while in front of the mirror for more than 2 minutes at least. I think the cliche comes in when the realistic notion of 'having a glance at yourself in front of a mirror' becomes unrealistic, is when the writer expounds the thoughts of the character or the narrative to more than what most of us would require. Too much description becomes a self-absorbed character. Lack of description makes your character catatonic or stoic. Unless of course that's how one intends it. Haha.

I agree with this though, Inside jokes.

This has gotta be the worst in a story. It's like J.K. Rowling suddenly writing Engarde Leviosa without putting any description in her narrative as to what the hell it means. Is it a new brand of homogenised cheese that Harry can use for spellcrafting? Is it a wand that specialises in giving your enemies dysentery? 

However, it would be safe to say that indeed, most people wouldn't describe themselves or speak to their consciousness while in front of the mirror for more than 2 minutes at least. I think the cliche comes in when the realistic notion of 'having a glance at yourself in front of a mirror' becomes unrealistic, is when the writer expounds the thoughts of the character or the narrative to more than what most of us would require. Too much description becomes a self-absorbed character. Lack of description makes your character catatonic or stoic. Unless of course that's how one intends it. Haha.

Personally i don't think writers should sweat the description of their first person narrator.  I don't care about it if I have good sense of the narrator's sense of self.  I don't feel cheated if i don't know what the narrator looks like.  All those descriptions on the first page, I promptly forget by page five. Unless it's really remarkable.

You know even if you must describe the narrator, there's no need for the mirror. Why should they need a mirror to talk about their bodies?  They are talking about their feelings for the entire book.  I'm sure they can spare a paragraph to talk about their bodies.

The key of course is that these ramblings should be in character, and it would nice if there was a healthy dose of dramatic irony too. How a cocky guy talks about his body will be very different from how an anorexic guy would.

Guilty for the mirror thing, but all he said was he had tired eyes and a tangled rat nest on his head, so I think that's acceptable.

I prefer to write in first person but I never liked to describe the narrator, at least his/her looks. I was surprised when a lot of readers complained about the lack of description, they said they wanted to have a clear  picture of the narrator in their head. I always have a picture of the characters in my head, even when the author never provided a detailed description.

Should I give in or not? It's my story so I can write it the way I think it should be, but on the other hand if more than one reader is clearly missing something, should I give it to them? I tend to say no, but I have to admit I gave in, just a little.

Thanks for the advice. Discussing these things with myself can be pretty weird sometimes.

I prefer to write in first person but I never liked to describe the narrator, at least his/her looks. I was surprised when a lot of readers complained about the lack of description, they said they wanted to have a clear  picture of the narrator in their head. I always have a picture of the characters in my head, even when the author never provided a detailed description.

 

Should I give in or not? It's my story so I can write it the way I think it should be, but on the other hand if more than one reader is clearly missing something, should I give it to them? I tend to say no, but I have to admit I gave in, just a little.

 

I touched on character description in an earlier post. Here's a brief summary of that article.

Less is more because when you include too much detail, you’re telling your readers how to envision the character, rather than showing them how to envision the character for themselves.  You, the writer, will never be able to tell them anything that’s as convincing and believable as what they invent on their own, or what you lead them to invent through the use of their own preconceptions.

The more flexibility a reader has to invent their own character, the better. Some description helps that. Too much can reduce a reader's buy-in. Which is why the use of a "stereotype" can be so useful.

Thanks for reading. I appreciate the comment.

The mirror thing is a bit reflective on reality though. Your brain processes a dozen of information just by glancing yourself in the mirror. That is why most of us have the ability to notice unusual things happening on our faces, such as: a zit, a pimple, a new scar, a freckle, a flat mole, oily skin, irritated eyes, and the likes.

 

That's why you see so many writers doing this is because this is the nearest to reality.

Exactly. The point is not that this is an ineffective writing device. It's that it is overused, as you say, by so many authors. Writing is, or should be, at its heart, a personalized effort. It's not that you can't insert these things into your narrative, but why would you when there are so many other ways to showcase that you are a unique and imaginative storyteller.

Thanks for commenting.

Oh dear. All of these tips you have been given us is all so useful I can't help but feel cheated when this tips being moved down to the bottomless pit by the next prompt / news.

Shouldn't there be a compilation of writing tips or something? Somewhere where we can read all of the past (your) writing tips? Or is there already a way to do that?

I have already memorized all the tips of course, though I only read two of your tips so far. Specificity and now this cliched thingy.  It's just that.. It's nice to read the tips all over again when I want to self review / self edit my story.

I categorize posts like this as Writing Tips, and you can pull up the whole list of them at this link:

http://www.gayauthors.org/forums/blog/blog-258/cat-38-writing-tips

I touched on character description in an earlier post. Here's a brief summary of that article.

 

Less is more because when you include too much detail, you’re telling your readers how to envision the character, rather than showing them how to envision the character for themselves.  You, the writer, will never be able to tell them anything that’s as convincing and believable as what they invent on their own, or what you lead them to invent through the use of their own preconceptions.

 

The more flexibility a reader has to invent their own character, the better.

That's such a good point.  I can see times where it makes sense to vividly paint a scene or a person if you want the reader to fully embrace your vision of that character, but most of the time, I prefer to handle things this way, to let the readers build their own image of the character.  I think this helps the reader make the story more personal (they can visualize someone they know, or have seen), and it makes the story flow better by omitting a lot of descriptive words that aren't really necessary. 

A lot of good stuff here.

I am guilty of adding references, but I don't think it's an ego thing... I do it because I think it adds a certain level of detail and life to the story. Like seeing a poster for a band or a movie in a scene in a film. It makes it more real. It also makes it more real because when people have conversations they reference all kinds of pop-culture (this is a very Whedonian way of doing things, I probably get it from him). Of course the pop-culture I will reference will be pop-culture I'm familiar with. I will, especially, mention real bands and artists, because music tends to be important to my characters. That also means it isn't idle, it's plot-related, because it tells you something about the character.

I think most of these clichés can be justified if they're done well and if you know what you're doing and are aware that they are clichés, so that you can do them differently. Just like how, once you know and are aware of all the "rules" of an art form, be it music, painting or writing, you can safely bend them to breaking point and use it to create good art.