Becca, I think that one's next on Anna's list...

Becca - that's a brilliant idea, I'm all for it, when can we start Anna?

Sorry I'm a little confused here.

While Becca's idea is a good one, that's exactly what we, members of the Humour group, were doing. And I remember we were slapped down and told that the forums were NOT the place for this kind of activity. And NOT to do it again. If it now is the place, then how comes? I really would be interested, as I had thought that we were engaging in quite creative stuff and couldn't understand why it was supposed to be the wrong thing to do ...especially as we had never been told before hand that those were the rules.

So, what prompted a the change of heart?

Hi Jib
I'll WWMail you about that in a mo if I may.

OK ...so the cucumber aside. which was very funny...I actually thought that Nell's Romantic story really did sound romantic. In a way is that not what 'romance' is? A fantasy; all dreamy and surreal?....real feelings / emotions don't necessarily equal romance. You could see romance as a suspension of reality and cliches could very much be a vehicle for this.

I'm glad you found the cucumber funny Jabulani - for a moment there I thought my attempt at creating a slightly surreal fantasy had misfired.

I'm sure that Anna is right when she says that whole books are riddled with romantic cliches - I was disappointed that the 200 word limit meant I couldn't use all the others I had lined up.

If it's true that romance and crime are the two most popular genres, writing cliche-ridden work must be the best way to get published!

Personally I neither read nor write romance,(seriously at least) which I'm sure you are right in saying is fantasy of a sort and bears little resemblance to the realities of life, except possibly momentarily if one is lucky.

I think this exercise highlighted (I nearly typed 'brought home' ) the need to treat cliches with caution - to be aware of the effect their indiscriminate use can have on a piece of work. They've been jumping out at me from all over the
place ever since!