Wednesday 3 April 2013

CHALLENGE - A to Z CHALLENGED


Each post for the A to Z Challenge is the challenge I set for myself.
C is for
CHALLENGES


FOR THE KNIGHT, de MOREVILLE,
ARCHERY IS A CHALLEGE










C is for the Challenges a character must face and try to overcome. Although, it is the struggle rather than the success that make the concept strong.

HAL LONGLEAT AND THE TROUBLE WITH TRUTH
Hal gripped the ladder, and he dug his fingers into the space between the blocks of stone. He held his breath. What could the knight do that was better than Lord Courtney’s shot? “Please,” Hal whispered, even though he had no idea what he was hoping for. “Please.” He shook his head. 


Could YOU have been gifted with the ability to identify and eliminate weak and brittle phrases from your work? To the uninitiated, these interlopers look like quality imagery.

CLICHÉ RAIDERS: REWRITE!

•           calm before the storm
•           card up his sleeve
•           cat among the pigeons, put the
•           centre of the universe
•           chalk and cheese, as different as
•           champing at the bit
•           chorus of approval/dispproval
•           cold light of day, in the
•           crack of dawn
•           crisis of confidence
•           cross that bridge when we come to it, we’ll

FOR C, I CHOSE CHALLENGES. WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR C POST?

26 comments:

  1. Good luck with the challenge, I'm going to California today!
    Evalina, This and that...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi EvalinaMaria
      I hope you have a wonderful time in California.

      Delete
  2. Is the Trouble With Truth supposed to paste together into a longer story across the days? I hadn't thought to check for continuity...

    My 'C' post today is 'Cartography,' going over some of the difficulties in mapping my fictional world, and some of its better-known regions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All the sections about Hal are from my wip. They are not chronological, more selected to reflect the mood of the post. Oh! *Plan: We could play the game Piece the mms back together! I like that idea ;) It may take a while - 30 days. And, you would also need to know that two excerpts are not from chapter one ;)

      I loved your piece on the fictional world you've created - very much the reverse of Earth.

      Delete
  3. Thanks for stopping by my blog. As you know, "chalk art" is my topic for the day. :)

    Great tips! Those cliches often masquerade as good writing but just end up sounding old and trite. I agree: rewrite them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Dana
      The chalk art over on your blog was amazing - hard to believe it was only drawn into the third dimension.

      Delete
  4. I think it's also the choices made how to deal with the struggle that makes it interesting rather than just grueling.

    mood
    Moody Writing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mood
      Every word is a whole set of separate decisions ;)

      Delete
  5. Cliches on the lips of a character tell you something about the character. Cliches in the writer's prose tell you something about the writer... :) Personally, I avoid them like the plague. ;)

    All the best with the rest of the A-to-Z, Elaine. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *hahaha

      You should visit John Wiswell he has a magical plague - hard to be clichéd about that ;)

      Delete
  6. New follower saying hello from A to Z.

    I'd like to add two more cliches to your list--how 'bout chip off the old block or chip on his/her shoulder.

    My C post today is about Change, Calendar, and Customs in world building and setting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cynthia
      Thank you for stopping by and following. I love new followers.
      Yes, chips on, or off, blocks or shoulders should be swept away from everyone's writing ;)

      Delete
  7. The subject of my C post is Beth Cato. She's a writer I've published in Niteblade magazine a few times and someone who deserves a little extra attention now and then.

    Great blog post about challenges, I enjoyed all your C cliches too.

    ~ Rhonda Parrish

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like the idea that your theme for the A to Z Challenge is a focus on new writers. Challenges provide the opportunity to learn the hard way ;)

      Delete
  8. I think I'm pretty good at making challenges for my characters. I usually catch my cliches and hope my editors catch any I miss.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Susan
      Excellent, I would say. It's handy having any kind of support to clip the clichés, you have the best kind of spotters looking with you. :)

      Delete
  9. I'm good at recognising the cliches...it takes longer to rewrite them ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lynda
      I'm glad you spot the clichés... they are just sooo comfortably embedded in the psyche they slip into the writing.

      Delete
  10. So many clichés, so little space in my brain to remember them all ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Trisha
      I selected five examples from much longer lists - there are lots of clichés. I find, the trouble is the brain knows them all and, without vigilance, lets them slip out and into the mms.

      Delete
  11. I enjoy reading those struggles.

    I try to catch those cliches and edit them out. I never heard of "champing at the bit" and "cat among the pigeons". They're new to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Medeia
      I agree, the struggle is the absorbing part of the story. I'm glad you're finding the clichés section useful; I guess some clichés are cultural or regional - originally, they must have been products of their time and place.

      Delete
  12. An A-Z challenger just looking in.

    Clichés are the bane of any writer. They can act as useful place holders in a first draft but after that they're a definite no-no.

    My C was Thomas COOK.

    Good luck with the rest of the challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm pretty good about catching cliches but I still find them now and again!

    ReplyDelete
  14. My subject was Confessions

    I like to use known phrases as titles (tho not with regard to Lizzy in AtoZ), they suggest the cliche and then my story (hopefully) takes them somewhere else.

    But at the end of the day, when all is said and done, not to put too fine a point on it, if you use too many you'll be up the creek without a paddle.
    Some people use cliches til the cows come home! :D


    auntyamo
    http://ficticiousamo.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
  15. awww...when I read those cliches, I discover how much I enjoy them. They represent some things I really like about the English language. I guess there would be better ways to say those things though.

    ReplyDelete