Avoid Clichés Like the Plague

Avoid clichés like the plague. ßHa! See what I did there?

Yup, we use clichés all the time. It seems to me that clichés come to be because they hold some element of truth. But haven’t we heard them enough?

Here's a fun game: pick out all of the cliche's that you hear in this song. I've never been able to make it to the end before rolling my eyes so hard I get a migrane.

Yup, it seems that songwriters can get away with using as many clichés as they want. Maybe because it makes it so easy to remember the words to the songs.

As writers we need our work to be fresh. Exciting! New! Surprising! A feast for the eyes. ßOkay, I’m cutting it close there. ßAnd there.

You see, it’s a lot quicker and easier to fall back on simple descriptions and clichés than it is to make something truly your own. That takes time, thought, and creativity-- those same old key elements of success. Dang it, it's hard work, but it's worth it!

So, if you need to fall back on cliche's, it's fine to do so in your first draft. Then come back and revise them within an inch of their lives. Your readers will thank you for it.