Cliches are "dead metaphors"

I've written on cliches and comparisons recently and now I get a nice connection of these things. Here is the article, where cliches are called "dead metaphors". It's pretty nice, eh?

Blog clichés

Yesterday I was interested in various clichés. Today I focus on blog clichés.



So we have two types of “cliché” term interpretation. More global is “cliché” like “some overused stuff”. The other is “cliché” like “hackneyed phrase”. The second type directly concerns to blog writing. So it would be great to compose a list. And of course it should be named “The Worlds’ Greatest Cliché List”.



The first contributions would be:



“This is absolutely uninteresting post. Don’t read it.” Fantastic, but it’s always true.



“Cool stuff”. In this way people name their sites’ or blogs’ link sections.



“Must see” made a good showing and remains popular nowadays. Don’t miss it. Use it in every review in this way: “…and special effects are so great! And orcs are so realistic! MUST SEE!!!” And its pair “must die” was popular before blogging boom occurred. Hope this phrase will rise again.



At http://mw.cracked.com/2005/07/blog_cliche_roundup.php there’s a worthy blog cliché roundup. MUST SEE!!!



Here is some more COOL STUFF: http://tireddad2.blogspot.com/2006/08/top-ten-appalling-blog-cliches.html





Technorati Tags: cliche, cliches, cliche list, blog cliche, blog cliches, blog, blogs, blogging, wrting, must see, cool stuff

Cliches

I thought of writing a post about greatest hoaxes but discovered that this theme is widely covered at http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/

And so I decided to tell you a little about clichés. Cliché is a trite, hackneyed, stereotype or overused expression. Every life sphere has its own clichés. It’s better to avoid them speaking or writing, didn’t you know? :) By the way I’ve just used one. The phrase “life sphere” sounds pretty but is so trite.

Suppose that most often we come across clichés on the news. Here are some groaners with comments from http://www.newswriting.com/groaners.htm

Slain – Dragons are slain. People are killed.

Hospitalized – Bathrooms get sanitized. Shirts get Martinized. People do not get hospitalized. They’re in the hospital.

Area Residents - “Shhh, Tommy, don’t play the drums so loud, you’ll wake the area residents!” Normal people don’t refer to their neighbors this way. Why should we?

Blog http://tommangan.net/banned/ is devoted to groaners too and it is remarkable for its epigraph:

“Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.”
George Orwell

Movie clichés are the objects of ridicule for a long time. For example, no matter how dead you think you've killed a bad guy, he can still get up at least 3 more times. You can find villains, cars, alcohol, wars, asteroids, aliens and other movie stereotypes at http://www.moviecliches.com/

Phrases “someone once said... [followed by an obscure quotation]”, ”24/7”, “...just doing my job” are common life clichés. See some more at http://hypocrisytoday.com/cliches.html

Worth1000.com photoshop contests also have some overused entries: Britney Spears, George Bush, Statue of Liberty, Star Wars and terrorist references. Read FAQ section http://www.worth1000.com/faq.asp#3 for more information. I'd add Lord of the Rings references to this list.

It’s not hard to find collections of different areas clichés (try to search Google “RPG clichés” or “music videos clichés”).

Finally one more time: filter your speech and texts, don’t use hackneyed expressions and your image will be more attractive :)

Tags: cliche - movie cliches - RPG cliches - news cliches - cliches - common cliches - expressions - phrases - cliche list - popular cliche

Make your texts more attractive using vivid comparisons

Your posts will look better if you use vivid comparisons.

Here is a remarkable quote from “The Invisible Man” by Wells:

“His feet, save for socks of irregular open-work, were bare, his big toes were broad, and pricked like the ears of a watchful dog.”

“Big toes are ears of a watchful dog” is a smart parallel.

Kipling wrote in his “Puck of Pook's Hill”:

“Then he showed us how to hunt wolves and those great red deer with horns like Jewish candlesticks.”

This unexpected turn makes me imagine a deer with Jewish candlesticks instead of horns. And maybe it’s a good idea for some photoshop.

I remember one great comparison from Marc Chagall’s “My life”. He described a hut as a potato wetted in a pickle. It’s quite marginal, isn’t it?

So I offer you to comment this post using some your great comparisons. It may be a good exercise if you are thinking of how to improve your writing style.

And here is one more thing. I’ve an idea of making a series of such exercises in this blog. So, you’re welcome.

Tags: writing - writing exercises - exercises - creativity - write - books - tips - writing tips - quotes - comparisons

Writing thoughts: how to become a great writer :)

1. To write charming texts you need subjects. You can draw ideas from your experience or you can just imagine. Both methods are quite effective. For example Ernest Hemingway wrote “Green Hills of Africa” based on his personal experience which he got hunting in Africa. Jules Verne was a great dreamer, he didn’t travel, but he read books, imagined and improvised.

You need some sources of information, that’s for sure that. It can be your own biography, school lessons, books, Internet, canvases in museum or anything else. So you need some food for thoughts, starting points for your imagination.

2. A good way to learn some writers’ tricks is reading books and articles on writing (quite smart, heh). For example I’ve read “Hot Text! Web Writing that Works” by Jonathan and Lisa Price and have found it very useful (their site is useful too). It would be generously of you to share you materials on this subject in comments.

3. Here’s one more frequent advice: show your texts to your friends and relatives and ask for critics. There’re some sites focusing upon this. This method is often mentioned but is rarely used.

4. Of course you’re to practice a lot, to write everyday. Good practice is revising your works again and again. Even if you read your text the next day you wrote it, you’ll improve something for sure.

Tags: writing - web - book - article - become - writer - imagination - experience - advice - critics

Thoughts of blogging: choosing content form

You can produce content (quite industrial formula) by yourself or borrow it from the others. If you borrow, everything is easy and your blog is full of wonderful works, but sooner or later you’ll have copyright problems. And it’s also immoral. Really.

So it’s better to publish your own works. What do we have?

* Videos. You don’t need to make much effort to shoot some videos, but getting something worthy is more difficult than taking a nice photo or writing an entertaining passage. If you decide to post videos, they are to be outstanding. It doesn’t fit me. I’m not fond of shooting films.

* Photos. There’re a lot of talented photographers, but not so much. You’ve more chances to come across a talented photographer than a talented operator. But on the whole awesome photos are rare. Here I should say that my photos are quite ordinary. I use them to illustrate my articles and position them as key post elements rarely.

* Illustrations, flash cartoons and music are infrequent too. The overwhelming majority of bloggers can’t produce them (hello, factories :) ). I can’t make something special too.

* Texts are the only form of content most bloggers can offer. It’s the most popular content form and I suppose it’s possible to write good articles. Internet is a great library indeed, so here’s nothing terrible.

I’ve ideas on how to make progress in your writing skills.

Thoughts of blogging: choosing a field

Choosing what to post in your blog you have two immense ways: “blog as a diary” and “blog as a journalist’s column”.

The first way is more natural and following it is quite easy. You write about your current affairs and feelings, describe funny situations, post photos you like. This way implies writing for a narrow circle of acquaintance. You constantly get comments from your friends and comment their posts. Everything is really nice, you write what you wish and get feedback. So you are lucky ;)

The other way is more complicated. You don’t just chat with your friends, but try to entertain, educate, teach a large audience. If you are success, your audience grows and you have nice chances to find a good company.

So if you’ve chosen the second way you get more troubles for sure and maybe some more doubtful pleasure ;) You are to give attention to content and step carefully.

What can you do?

* Just inform people. For example you can comment world events in you specific vision or unmask somebody’s dirty business. In that case you become a columnist or a commentator.

* If you are quite experienced in some field you can teach, give advice and so on.

* Being a philosopher or a thinker you can share your views and conceptions. This post is an example. Here I’m trying to classify blogs and to choose what to do with my blog.

* If you are witty, draw comics, take awesome pictures, you may entertain public.

* Finally you can combine. For example you post your wonderful photos and explain the way you took them.

Two Ideas On How To Write Exciting Texts

I wish to learn writing exciting texts, but it’s not so easy. Well, it’s almost impossible. Of course, you’ll reach some level if you write and write and write, but...

So what are the ways to progress in your writing style? I’ve two ideas.

1. At worth1000.com I found not only Photoshop contests, but also text contests. You need to invent some short witty text on the instructions. It’s a great training. You read other variants, compare them with yours, see the clichés, learn some tricks. Good school.

2. Read books, especially books by classical authors with beautiful language.

Plan B