To cliché or not to cliché, (that is the cliché).

A wise person once said: “Avoid clichés like the plague.” A sentiment I have generally always been able to get on board with. However, how many times have you read through your novel manuscript to find that in order to avoid a cliché you end up performing literary acrobatics that simply don’t flow and feel utterly laboured.

I’m currently reading a really nicely written book called The State of Me by Nasim Marie Jafry, a semi-autobiographical novel about a young woman living with M.E. While reading, I came across a line that made me smile:

There is nothing wrong with clichés: clichés come on life and life is real. When Ivan told me he was going to India, MY HEART FROZE.

It’s a great line, and challenged my literary snobbery. So, where do you sit on clichés?

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