~ in which our author attempts to justify the odd title about a cocktail he’s never tried~

If any of you follow my Twitter feed, you may have seen that I have spoken about piña colada in the past and it’s relationship to clichés. Now, this article isn’t specifically about the cocktail but rather the song Escape (The Piña Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes.

I found myself listening to it on a commute and, for the first time, I listened to the lyrics instead of just joining in for the bit about piña coladas. As soon as it finished, I burst out laughing.

For those not down with their Number 1 US hits spanning from the seventies to the eighties, it tells of a man who doesn’t feel the spark with his girlfriend/wife/other and answers a personal ad in a paper. He goes to the bar to meet the perfect lady in the ad and, lo and behold, it is his girlfriend/wife/other waiting for him. Cue happiness, reconciliation and a new found joie de vivre.

But what made me laugh was the fact that it was a theme that has no doubt been in many a romcom, book or play before. Who knows, maybe this song was the genesis for that kind of idea?

Now, let’s get back on track.

Suffice to say, hearing this song put me in a rollicking good mood all day and I realised that using an old idea, trope or cliché can work just as well as, if not better than, a brand new, untested one if executed well.

The phrase “it’s all in the execution” is key when using old ideas. When we bear in mind that very few ideas are truly original these days, the way you present them becomes all the more important.

My method of getting around that, where I can, is to acknowledge them and then present them in a different way.

So, for example, one of the tropes I really distrust is the child with innate, and therefore unearned, magical abilities. Or the boy/girl with a DESTINY. Then there’s that dreaded…CHOSEN ONE.

If any of these people approached me I would think “evil little devil goblin”, “gullible” and “gullible, deluded or religious cult leader”. Seriously, no one is that important.

Acknowledging the tropes though can make them that much more believable. Show the reader why the people think that your protagonist is the CHOSEN ONE. Maybe he or she has done loads of important things and the legend has built up around them? People within their world will then warp their actions to suit the prophecies.

It Makes Sense.

If you’ve read my other articles, you might see a theme developing now…

I like things to be justified. I like a reason behind the rhyme. But that might just be me.