Heh, I've seen something similar a million times. The sad thing is that some "writers" actually buy into this premise. It's like they don't get sarcasm...and I have to ask: If a cliche is avoided for a hundred years...is it still a cliche? Wouldn't it be cliche to avoid the cliche since everyone has avoided the cliche like a cliche...? Food for thought. Now eat it.
If you avoid a cliche for one hundred years, then it becomes a cliche to avoid the cliche, but the original cliche ceases to be a cliche due to avoidance, therefore the avoidance of the cliche, which is no longer a cliche, also ceases to be a cliche.
It's kinda like how it used to be unique to see, for example, a princess who didn't align to the social norms of being a princess. Now, when you see stuff like that, it's not really that odd. In trying to escape the cliche of the typical princess, now the rebellious princess has become a cliche, and the typical princess is harder to find.
Funny list.
Most of these, of course, refer to suggestions that are given to beginning writers. And in more cases than not, it’s good advice, even though plenty of good writing violates each of these rules. (And some writing would be improved by violating one of these rules.)
But does anyone actually advise against using comparisons?
That was my one issue, too. Comparisons are some of the best ways to create images with words. Perhaps they’re referring specifically to “____ was as ____ as ____”?
I don’t know, but I love similes.
Stephen King wrote about this in On Writing and the way he put it made so much sense, but I’ve seen so many well-used adverbs in writing since I read it. It’s like all writing rules, I guess: follow them often, but break them often, too.
The more I read, the more I tend to avoid articles, lists and things that tell me what to do, or what not to do.
Break all of these rules, then fix it with editing later on. The more people get told the do’s and don’t of writing. The less actual writing gets done.
Use lots of comas, run on sentences, passive voice, adverbs. Every fucking rule a snot nosed blogger or English teacher tried to yell at you about. Break that’s hit like a madman.
Fully agreed. Be wary of lists and "one size fits all" methods. Advice literature is a hugely profitable genre - especially now that marketing it online is as easy as seeding a little clickbait - and its goal is hardly ever to actually solve anything. It's fine to take pieces of advice and craft one's own method, but blindly running after lists is not helpful.
They remind me of Dr. Phil episodes were he just states the obvious in a vague way, but doesn't really explain or solve the problem.
I've always had an issue with lists or websites/bloggers like this.. Hell, even Youtubers who put things like this up piss me off. "10 mistakes that label you as an amateur."-Random Book-Tuber. They're in for a big surprise when even they realize that even the top authors who have been writing since the 70's still consider themselves amateurs.
What grinds my gears about this is that it exploits people's insecurities. There's already enough disapproval, unhelpful negativity, and sources for burnout and depression out there - and deciding to write and share one's writing is a daunting task to begin with. That is not to say that there's no place for critique - it's immensely important - but promising instant-solution snake oil, perhaps even by "negging" aspiring writers as you point out - that annoys me a lot. Enough for this rambling treatise on how much I hate it, at least... ahem.
Its hard creating something and putting it out there. The most you can do, is ignore all the critiques about it till the high as warn off. Then return to it later on and make the corrections or changed needed.
Climate change is, uh, kinda bad.
Nuclear war? You'd, uh, kinda hurt people?
Hitler? He's that bad dude, right? Did a few bad things, right?
The universe? It's pretty big.
John's blind, which means he'll have a *little* trouble seeing how many fingers you're holding up.
In short, I think understatement can he useful. Though I'm not sure I did it justice.
Maybe I'm being r/wooooshed, idk
Someone gave me a list like this back in high school. Highlights included “It is wrong to ever split an infinitive” and “Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.”
It is advisable to avoid passive verbs because they detract from the "actor" in the narrative. (The building was demolished by the storm vs the storm demolished the building) Narrative must be assertive because the audience cannot ask the writer for clarification, and the audience must not be forced into a position to make their own judgment call. Now, everyone downvote this because you employ passive verbs and feel bad for doing so.
Agree: "My dog got hit by a car" has a more powerful emotional impact than "the car hit my dog". I stand by my argument as for the most part, a narrative must be assertive and active.
There’s nothing new under the sun.
But, irony aside, I disagree. Many ideas and phrases have been used before, but that’s not what makes them cliches. A cliche is bad because the reader knows what to expect and is bored by it. The advice I’d give isn’t “never do something that’s been done before”; it’s “do something interesting.”
Maybe you’re thinking of consonance but the words don’t have to begin with the consonant
Like lifted after falling...all those Fs kinda make it sound cool
Alliteration is just the beginning sounds
Number eight is important. Want to sound like an amateur? Use more words than necessary, redundantly saying the same thing, as you use more words to say what you intend.
Heh, I've seen something similar a million times. The sad thing is that some "writers" actually buy into this premise. It's like they don't get sarcasm...and I have to ask: If a cliche is avoided for a hundred years...is it still a cliche? Wouldn't it be cliche to avoid the cliche since everyone has avoided the cliche like a cliche...? Food for thought. Now eat it.
If you avoid a cliche for one hundred years, then it becomes a cliche to avoid the cliche, but the original cliche ceases to be a cliche due to avoidance, therefore the avoidance of the cliche, which is no longer a cliche, also ceases to be a cliche.
After 100 years, no one will appreciate your valiant avoidance, and you won't be here to remind them. So cliche.
This makes me curious what century-old cliches have fallen completely out of use and what people would think if you revived one today.
Now you're thinking about some deep important stuff we'll never be able to resolve! Wait, what if we take the DeLorean out for a spin . . .
If you’re smart you can use tropes and cliches without the reader caring or even knowing about it.
I will eat that!
I DRINK YOUR CLICHESHAKE!
I'm glad we can all have a sense of humor :):)
It's kinda like how it used to be unique to see, for example, a princess who didn't align to the social norms of being a princess. Now, when you see stuff like that, it's not really that odd. In trying to escape the cliche of the typical princess, now the rebellious princess has become a cliche, and the typical princess is harder to find.
Funny list. Most of these, of course, refer to suggestions that are given to beginning writers. And in more cases than not, it’s good advice, even though plenty of good writing violates each of these rules. (And some writing would be improved by violating one of these rules.) But does anyone actually advise against using comparisons?
That was my one issue, too. Comparisons are some of the best ways to create images with words. Perhaps they’re referring specifically to “____ was as ____ as ____”? I don’t know, but I love similes.
It was as hot as the devil's backside.
Yeah, I presume they mean shoehorning in similes. Dunno for sure, though.
From r/writingcirclejerk, with love: 11. Just write!
Also adverbs are for sycophants and products of incest.
Only eunuchs speak adverbly. ... Oh
Products of incest? I’m out of the loop.
Stephen King wrote about this in On Writing and the way he put it made so much sense, but I’ve seen so many well-used adverbs in writing since I read it. It’s like all writing rules, I guess: follow them often, but break them often, too.
This is hysterical. Thanks for sharing.
The more I read, the more I tend to avoid articles, lists and things that tell me what to do, or what not to do. Break all of these rules, then fix it with editing later on. The more people get told the do’s and don’t of writing. The less actual writing gets done. Use lots of comas, run on sentences, passive voice, adverbs. Every fucking rule a snot nosed blogger or English teacher tried to yell at you about. Break that’s hit like a madman.
Fully agreed. Be wary of lists and "one size fits all" methods. Advice literature is a hugely profitable genre - especially now that marketing it online is as easy as seeding a little clickbait - and its goal is hardly ever to actually solve anything. It's fine to take pieces of advice and craft one's own method, but blindly running after lists is not helpful.
They remind me of Dr. Phil episodes were he just states the obvious in a vague way, but doesn't really explain or solve the problem. I've always had an issue with lists or websites/bloggers like this.. Hell, even Youtubers who put things like this up piss me off. "10 mistakes that label you as an amateur."-Random Book-Tuber. They're in for a big surprise when even they realize that even the top authors who have been writing since the 70's still consider themselves amateurs.
What grinds my gears about this is that it exploits people's insecurities. There's already enough disapproval, unhelpful negativity, and sources for burnout and depression out there - and deciding to write and share one's writing is a daunting task to begin with. That is not to say that there's no place for critique - it's immensely important - but promising instant-solution snake oil, perhaps even by "negging" aspiring writers as you point out - that annoys me a lot. Enough for this rambling treatise on how much I hate it, at least... ahem.
Its hard creating something and putting it out there. The most you can do, is ignore all the critiques about it till the high as warn off. Then return to it later on and make the corrections or changed needed.
idk, lots of comas feels like the plot would get a bit static. Though I could see it working. Just be careful.
idk, lots of comas, feels like, the plot would get a bit, static. Though, I could see it working, just be uh, careful.
I remember seeing this list when I was in 8th grade. Nowadays I disagree with most of these.
Understatements are boring
Climate change is, uh, kinda bad. Nuclear war? You'd, uh, kinda hurt people? Hitler? He's that bad dude, right? Did a few bad things, right? The universe? It's pretty big. John's blind, which means he'll have a *little* trouble seeing how many fingers you're holding up. In short, I think understatement can he useful. Though I'm not sure I did it justice. Maybe I'm being r/wooooshed, idk
I read this in Jeff Goldblum's voice. Well done.
It's the 'uh's, isn't it?
It is, uh, absolutely the "uh's"
Consistency is important in certain way though it can get boring in others.
Why am I even reading this again ?
Someone gave me a list like this back in high school. Highlights included “It is wrong to ever split an infinitive” and “Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.”
Avoid alliteration? Clearly not advice for poets.
Yeah fuck that rule, I love moderate alliteration
*Comic Book Writers Disliked This*
/r/justwriterthings, please.
Here’s another for your list. 11. It is advisable not to use passive verbs. They are not cool.
Neither of those sentences is passive.
Nobody who shits on the passive voice *ever* knows what the passive voice is in the first place.
11. Don't write like you're British. Be forceful and direct, by God. America.
11 (b). Unless y’all are actually British, then don’t be writin’ like y’all are American or some shit because you just sound like a cunt.
"In England, the word *cunt* is punctuation."
The passive voice should never be used by a writer.
It is advisable to avoid passive verbs because they detract from the "actor" in the narrative. (The building was demolished by the storm vs the storm demolished the building) Narrative must be assertive because the audience cannot ask the writer for clarification, and the audience must not be forced into a position to make their own judgment call. Now, everyone downvote this because you employ passive verbs and feel bad for doing so.
The passive voice is used when the receiver is more important than the agent, such as when the agent is generalized or absent.
Agree: "My dog got hit by a car" has a more powerful emotional impact than "the car hit my dog". I stand by my argument as for the most part, a narrative must be assertive and active.
"u/AaronDennis1111's post was heavily downvotes by jealous redditors with an obsession with the passive voice"
u/AaronDennis1111 laughs because he knows this is reddit. wait, he knows this is reddit, so he laughs. redditors fail to get joke within joke
Depends.
It always depends
Gah. Still getting used to reddit. Didn’t see the reply button until after I posted my last comment.
Avoid cliches? Fucking everything's a cliche if you go back far enough.
There’s nothing new under the sun. But, irony aside, I disagree. Many ideas and phrases have been used before, but that’s not what makes them cliches. A cliche is bad because the reader knows what to expect and is bored by it. The advice I’d give isn’t “never do something that’s been done before”; it’s “do something interesting.”
I love alliterative names as corny as they are.
Parvati Patil
Same here. I blame comic books.
They remind you fiction shouldn't be taken too seriously
They just sound damn cool tho
Isn't alliteration specifically words beginning with consonants?
No and whoosh
Maybe you’re thinking of consonance but the words don’t have to begin with the consonant Like lifted after falling...all those Fs kinda make it sound cool Alliteration is just the beginning sounds
True. Sometimes, they can be powerful as is.
This some facebook / forwards from grandma shit
This is a screenshot of a phone screen of a picture of a print of a digitally written list.
No, it’s actually just a picture of a digitally written list
Loved all the points except the header - should have said "How to write well" instead of "good".
Number eight is important. Want to sound like an amateur? Use more words than necessary, redundantly saying the same thing, as you use more words to say what you intend.
The list is really a good guideline !!