Soupy Sundays: On Cliches (5)
11:12 PM
Soupy Sundays is a discussion post at Geeky Chiquitas in which we talk about our opinions on certain topics. This week's topic is on cliches.
ON CLICHÉS
Some people really hate cliches. They say that some plot lines are so overused. Of course it's nice to find a plot which is new and fresh since we tend to see a lot of the same plot lines in every genre. It gets tiring to see all of the same kind of books over and over again. They may be written differently but are, in essence, the same.
It may be so but we think that some books that are cliches are actually nice and enjoyable. We believe that a book's greatness is based more on how it was written. Maybe a book might be a cliche but if it is written well, if the plot was given justice, then it would probably be great for us. There is also a reason for why certain topics become so popular. Maybe that topic was simply great or could be worked with at so many different angles that people found it good enough to be worth reading about over and over again.
We admit that it might be hard to come up with new, fresh topics since there are so many books that you can't help but think: "What's the use of trying to think of a new topic when probably every single one has already been done?" Well, you might think that all topics are covered but we believe that if you think hard enough, you'll find a topic that's new. If you really can't think of one, you can choose to use one that you think hasn't been used much.
There are a lot of plot lines that we want to read yet haven't read yet. Sometimes, we are disappointed about how there are so many books on a certain topic but none on another. On a past post, we listed down a couple of topics that we haven't seen yet in a book that we would probably like to read. There were about ten topics there and we believe that we even had more that we didn't list down anymore. (You can check it out here.)
Even though we would like to see new, fresh topics when we read a book, we cannot deny that there's something about cliches that is kinda comforting. The feeling when you read a book and you already know what is happening is just different. It gives this comforting feeling. Makes you feel safe like nothing's gonna surprise you or anything. You already know what generally happens so you don't feel the need to analyze everything. You can just relax while reading a cliche.
In conclusion, we don't think that cliches are bad. We believe that a book should not be judged solely on its plot line but by it as a whole. Though we think of it as such, we would still like to see more unique topics. More books that cover new territories. Every plot is worth writing about because someone out there might be looking for a book like that so we hope that writers everywhere try as much as possible to write about different things. Audrey even saw a book on Goodreads that showed you how to sharpen pencils. If that isn't unique and different, we don't know what is.
What do you think about cliches? Leave a comment!
4 comments
I completely agree with you! One of the cliches I absolutely adore is boarding school! Even though it's cliche, it gives a writer all the originality they need. So far, I haven't found a single boarding school story that I didn't enjoy.
ReplyDeleteIvana @ BookishTeens <3
I definitely know what you mean. i think that if the author earns the cliche and makes it seem like it's not a cliche then they've done their job. It's impossible to be creative so really why bother to try and come up with a totally out there idea that may not even work for your book when you have the ability to execute a cliche perfectly? Thanks for sharing!! <33
ReplyDeleteI don't think cliches are innately wrong, but I do think it depends on the way they are written. I think a cliche plot, for example, and be amazing if it is well written. Even though a topic is old news doesn't mean it can't be given new life and feel fresh if done correctly. When reading, I think you can feel if an author is breathing new life into the cliche or if they are just trying to churn something out that they think will sell. Great topic!
ReplyDeleteI think I once read that there are really only 10 ways plots can go in literature. That is it. So that being said it is no surprise that cliches are everywhere. There are only so many ways stories can go. Plus I people are comfortable with cliches.. we know what that book will be about so we as a reader chose to go and read it. I enjoy cliches sometimes!
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