Countering our culture’s disregard for all things elderly, comics have become a medium of choice for celebrating the lives of our oldest and wisest generation. Bird in a Cage (Conundrum Press, 2016)…
The grief story: it’s sympathetic, moving, and even cathartic when done well. It’s also a trap for clichés, overwrought metaphors, sticky sentimentality, and hyperbole. Add that to the ubiquity of…
In an interview with NPR about his new book, It’s Been Said Before: A Guide to the Use and Abuse of Cliches, Orin Hargraves acknowledges the utility of well-worn shorthand…
Most people think clichés aren’t worth a hill of beans, but over at Salon, Orin Hargraves says they just haven’t gotten a fair shake. Hargraves thinks clichés are just a…
The phrase “little did she/he/they know” has plenty of history. The question is, when did it start being used for cheap suspense? The inversion of subject and verb sounds stilted…
Cliches are something every writer has to deal with at some point. This weekend, Steve Edwards acknowledges the cliché and comes to something of a reckoning. Edwards declares: That’s how…
Jonathan Lethem has been hired for David Foster Wallace’s old teaching post at Pomona. (via @maudnewton) “Lots of people in Indiana Jones hats today. I approve.” From @WriterDaniel at this…