The writer Martin Amis famously said that “all writing is a campaign against cliche.” This is taught in intro creative writing courses, and is often quoted as “all good writing is a war against cliche[1].” A contemporary version could be “All good writing is a war against AI slop.”
The full direct quote is “To idealise: all writing is a campaign against cliche. Not just cliches of the pen but cliches of the mind and cliches of the heart. When I dispraise, I am usually quoting cliches. When I praise, I am usually quoting the opposed qualities of freshness, energy and reverberation of voice.”
My guess is that it has something to do with the cadence of the sentence, and the placement of the period. I.e., AI would usually not use the same word cliche three time in repeated cadence. Also the slop thing would have words that fill in for a certain overused cadence without really adding much to the content of the sentence.
The point: all writing is a campaign against cliche. The issue isn’t just cliches of the pen — it’s cliches of the mind. I’m talking about cliches of the heart.
Let’s be real here. When I critique, I am usually quoting cliches. When I praise, I’m not doing so through freshness, energy or reverberation of voice. I can accept that — I own it. That’s what puts me in control of the battlefield.
The writer Martin Amis famously said that “all writing is a campaign against cliche.” This is taught in intro creative writing courses, and is often quoted as “all good writing is a war against cliche[1].” A contemporary version could be “All good writing is a war against AI slop.”
The full direct quote is “To idealise: all writing is a campaign against cliche. Not just cliches of the pen but cliches of the mind and cliches of the heart. When I dispraise, I am usually quoting cliches. When I praise, I am usually quoting the opposed qualities of freshness, energy and reverberation of voice.”
― Martin Amis
Of course the full quote uses a “not just X but Y and Z”, a perfectly cromulent construction which has become notorious slop sign.
Interestingly it does not at all trigger my AI detection bits. Maybe it’s the “just”, or that it makes sense in context.
I was also wondering why it works!
My guess is that it has something to do with the cadence of the sentence, and the placement of the period. I.e., AI would usually not use the same word
clichethree time in repeated cadence. Also the slop thing would have words that fill in for a certain overused cadence without really adding much to the content of the sentence.The point: all writing is a campaign against cliche. The issue isn’t just cliches of the pen — it’s cliches of the mind. I’m talking about cliches of the heart.
Let’s be real here. When I critique, I am usually quoting cliches. When I praise, I’m not doing so through freshness, energy or reverberation of voice. I can accept that — I own it. That’s what puts me in control of the battlefield.