Lions and Tigers and Cliches, Oh My!

     People resort to using cliches in conversations to get a point across as often times, cliches describe a situation perfectly. If I am nervous, I most likely feel like my stomach is in knots or like butterflies are fluttering around. If I am offering my full attention, then I am metaphorically all ears. If the writing center is full of tutees, then we need all hands on deck.

     However, all of these hands on deck need to emphasis the importance of avoiding over using cliches in writing. Cliches portray a certain extent of laziness of the writer as most cliches don't require a lot of creativity or effort to come up with. Also, I can guarantee the reader has already heard any cliche you come up with. Roy Peter Clark, author of  Writing Tools, believes that the overuse of cliches become "familiar--- and stale". Clark also argues that "using cliches is a substitute for thinking".

Clark suggests that when tempted by an over used phrase, you should stop writing, jot down the cliche on the paper and work through it until you come up with something original. He followed that advice with an example:

"white as snow

white as Snow White

snowy white

gray as city snow

gray as the London sky

white as the Queen of England"

Being the curious writer that I am, I attempted creating my own original phrase to avoid a cliche:

Cuts like a knife

cuts deep

cuts to the bone

the first cut is the deepest

cut to the core

hurt to the core

hurts like a cut

So, you don't have to beat around the bush or let the cat catch your tongue when trying to use a common phrase. Instead, just create your own!