One in a series of writing tips.
It’s often said that every cliché once was new and fresh. True enough. And every serial killer once was a baby.
A cliché’s early innocence is no defense of its current behavior, and all clichés behave badly. They splotch writing like turds on a putting green.
Or, as Verlyn Klinkenborg suggests in his book “Several Short Sentences About Writing,” a cliché “causes gangrene in the prose around it.”
The grass is always greener …
It’s full steam ahead …
That’s unfair. These worn-out word blobs are innocent. It’s writers who are guilty.
Clichés discourage the thinking that can make writing memorable. Writers who lean on clichés are less likely to discover original ideas and to develop unique ways to express them. They choose canned soup over Grandma’s homemade stew.
Down in the dumps …
Go for broke …
Clichés sometimes slip into early drafts. Careful writers delete them and rewrite using their words. They truly write.
Lazy or unaware writers don’t bother. They leave the turds stinking on the page.
Better late than never …
And in the final analysis …
Dump the turds. Kill clichés.
Two robust stupid cliches that I abhor: “Working across the aisle” (why is there even an aisle to begin with) and “at the end of the day” (which seldom is when a story ends. I add one more that is growing like clump of crabgrass: “The American People….” add anything you want to that.
Good examples, Steve. There are so many.