When I was a lowly writing student, one of the biggest messages I got was to avoid the obvious. Resist predictability. Subvert expectations. And never EVER use clichés.
That’s all good and well, until you get so lost trying to be innovative that you lose track of what it means to tell a good story.
Now that I no longer feel beholden to the inanity of creative writing programs that have no room for genre fiction, I’ve come to see that stories have their own energy and life force. One story’s cliché is another story’s narrative subversion. One novel’s canned trope is another’s blissful love letter to it. In other words, what matters at the end of the day is the story, who is writing it, and how it speaks to us (see also: the subjectivity of Taste).
And, let’s be real, always trying to be Not Like Other Writers…well, doesn’t that become its own cliché after a while?
With that in mind, I thought I’d share two of my favorite clichés. The first is: Life is Art.
The second? We are all stories.
It’s easy to pass these statements off as something you’d only see on a thank you card, written on craft-store decor, or, hell, embroidered on a cushion. Yet I find both these clichés deeply comforting.
Let’s take Life is Art.
This phrase is my antidote to one of the absolute worst clichés in my mind, that of the Super Deep Writer. Who is the Super Deep Writer, you might ask? Well, this person spends a lot of time alone, thinking Deep Thoughts, naturally, generally looking profound, and writing the kind of stuff they think is amazing but, to anyone not under the influence of alcohol or extreme isolation, is merely mediocre prose.
In other words: SNOOZE FEST.
Let’s be real — Pretty much all I could do during the pandemic was write, and, as much as I valued that as a time to complete my first novella and other projects, I’m also deeply grateful that part of my life is over and that I could connect with others online to avoid the absolute isolation and mediocre prose inherent in being the Super Deep Writer. Staying apart from the world, spending a lot of time alone to contemplate life’s big questions, and writing stories in a bucolic setting…well, it’s not as romantic as it sounds.
Frankly doing nothing but writing gets pretty borning!
That’s how I got to thinking about life as a work of art, something we can tend to daily in our thoughts, our actions, our intentions. We have the power to craft a world we want to live in and a day that is rich and full of experiences. It might not always be rainbows and sunshine, but each synchronous moment, each plot twist, each revelation is something to savor as you would sliding your teeth against artichoke flesh or biting into a peach.
The pain and heartache, the joy and pleasure, are all worthy of celebration. Our lives are richer for the experiences we lean into and the relationships we tend. That’s how I wake up every morning: eager to greet the day and see what art comes from it.
This delicious cliché is also about designing the kind of life and the kind of story we want to live in, from what we wear to how we decorate our sanctuaries. It’s about filling our cup each and every day at the well of experience.
That’s where good writing comes from: loving and living and being present in the moment.
Which is where my second favorite cliché comes in. We’re all stories, and we have to be mindful of the narratives we live out, the histories we tell about ourselves, and the tales we welcome into our lives. We also need to welcome in the plot twists and narrative subversions, the meet cutes and sudden goodbyes, the fated moments and the unexpected ones. In other words, you keep moving forward simply because you want to see where your tale is going next—the anticipation, the wonder, the surprise, well, they all make for a good story!
What makes the most interesting protagonists? Someone who leans in and, instead of trying to nail down answers, embraces the unknown with curiosity and more than a little hope. Someone who learns from their experiences without closing their heart or hardening their gaze. And always, always, they are eager, like any reader of a good book, to know what happens next.
So here are a few delightful plot twists I’ve experienced this first half of the year: a new home, a new promotion, a new outlook on life. A renewed enjoyment of the world and simple pleasures in it: cooking, dancing, good times with friends and loved ones. I’m rediscovering all my city has to offer and, I think, all I have to offer to myself, my city, and my community.
Readers, it is a heady, hedonistic feeling! It means I’ve been writing less as I adapt to all the new things in my life, but I'm enjoying my life and my writing all the more because of this widening perspective. I’m also relearning that the best things in life, and in stories, are the things you didn’t see coming.
Life happens when you least expect it. It sneaks up on you, like a ladybug on your shoulder or a kiss in the rain or a conversation with an interesting stranger.
So what have I been up to lately?
Resisting predicability. Subverting expectations. And enjoying a good cliché or two.
Alt Text: A colorful still life with a red colander, fruits, and a striped cloth, accompanied by the words "Life is Art (and other clichés I like).”
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