Cliché

I was told that my writing has some typical cliché by the creative writing instructor, touché.

I think when you are teaching students about cliches--I usually hear teachers in the faculty room disparaging student use of cliches--that you need to realize that students are just learning cliches, so technically they don't know that they are cliches.

Typical advice goes something like this, "You should avoid using a cliché in your writing like the plague. It's simply an expression that has become overused to the point it has lost the impact; such as 'avoid...like the plague.'"

How do you define cliche? If there is a universal feeling, there is a cliche to go with it.

A cliche is not just something that lots of people say; It's something that lots of people say and it conveys some sort of idea or message. A cliche is, in other words, a metaphor characterized by its overuse.

Wikipedia states that cliché is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, rendering it a stereotype, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel.

Cliché in writing or speech is generally considered a mark of inexperience or unoriginality.

Well, if I was a great writer, I would not be going to a creative writing class in the first place would I?

Actually, I would not have been going to this class either except that it is a gift from a friend and it is a wonderful and thoughtful gift. If I do want to become a published writer, I do need to get off from the clichés that I have been using in my blog.

"It is a dark and stormy night" and "A hot summer day" are amongst my most popular blog posts but they are not going to get me published.

So, I am in this class run by Silverfish Books and whom do I meet in class but an old friend from my previous working life.

I guess there is always a purpose and reason for everything you do and everyone you meet. I may not know it now but there is a purpose for this.

At the moment I got too much in my mind to think about. Shall I apply for that new job? Shall I call in my network buddies and my head hunter friends yet? What is happening to this share market? What is the status of my migration visa application? How do I motivate myself and get all the bloody mundane stuff done? How do I make this place a little more positive?

I am just tired of all this. I wish I could just beam myself away to another planet, another time, another dimension away from all this problems and issues.  Then I re-read Bukowski, “Air and light and time and space have nothing to do with it and don’t create anything except create a longer life to find new excuses for.”

I knew I was just finding excuses to go away. I was tired of this place, this city, the people, the family, the life and the work. I just wanted to be in another place.  I didn’t need to be in another place. What I need is to make this place what I want it to be, what I need is to find the change from within me and what I needed was to finally stand up and be the man of this house. I needed to take charge of this place again.

I need to use my guardians and angels and let them guide me to seek the peace within myself. I need to beam me within myself and change from within because if no change comes from within, I am just without.

Take care and be well.

 No clichés were harmed during the writing of this blog.