Avoiding Clichés Without Trying Too Hard

One of the things I worry about most in my writing is whether I have used too many overly used terms. There are so many clichés that slip through in writing that they can sometimes become comical. The most alarming thing is that there are Facebook pages dedicated to calling them out – so I often look at them to make sure I am not committing any of those “crimes”. Of course, cliches sometimes have a place. If what you are writing needs cliches to work, then use them. Rules are meant to be broken, and I don’t like to be too prescriptive in any of the advice in this blog. Take my advice “with a pinch of salt”, avoid being dictated to “like the plague”, and just make your work shine “like a new pin”. See what I did there?!
 
We all want our work to feel fresh and original, yet clichés have a habit of sneaking onto the page. Sometimes they arrive as familiar phrases. Sometimes they're predictable character types, stock reactions, or scenes we've seen many times before.
 
A cliché is often a shortcut. It reaches for the familiar rather than the particular. Instead of describing what this character would notice, feel, or say, it borrows something generic.
​
One useful technique is to pause when you write the first thing that comes to mind. Not because it's necessarily wrong, but because there may be something more interesting underneath it. Ask yourself: What would this character do? What would this setting feel like? What detail belongs only to this moment?
 
Specificity is one of the best antidotes to cliché. Readers connect with details that feel observed rather than copied or borrowed.
 
It's also worth remembering that familiar ideas aren't automatically bad. Love, loss, family, hope, jealousy, ambition, and redemption have been written about for centuries. What makes them feel fresh is the unique perspective through which they're explored.
 
So don’t avoid every single element of the familiar – just be picky and makes sure it fits. If you can say it better, do! But if you can’t, and the phrase that was most obvious is the right one – use it but make sure it lands!

What's your favourite example of a story that took a familiar idea and made it feel completely fresh? - Let me know in the comments.