End Cliche Speed Bumps

Cliches are all around us. Cliched plot lines. Cliched characters. Cliched blog posts? Sometimes cliches slip into our writing and we don't realize it. How can they be avoided? Do we even realize how many we use? Is crying a cliche when showing a character's sadness? How else can we write sadness instead of just having a person cry? Drooping shoulders. Flat, monotone voice. Heavy-footed walk. Staring down at empty hands or clutching a token like a cross of memorabilia.

Think of other things we write or read many, many times. Ear to ear grin ... sounds a bit creepy instead of joyful. Waves of nausea. Quaking knees. Shivers crawling up the spine. Pounding heart.

Most of us write a few of those into our work. And the more experienced you are, the more likely that they create a snag in the flow. You stop typing, knowing you have to make that sentence better. You have to get the emotion across without an overused phrase. I used to do this all the time. But another writer gave me permission to not let these things slow me down. Cliches are permitted in first drafts. Now when I write one I wince, but I keep on moving. Fix it in the next draft. Fix it when your critique partner points it out. Fix it before an editor sees it but don't let it slow you down in the first draft.

One of the ways I fix my cliches is by using the best-selling resource, The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression. A member of my writers' group recommended this book a few years ago. I've had it on my desk side shelf for a while now. I don't pull it out for the first draft but keep it on hand during the second.

So instead of worrying that your protagonist shed a single tear or their eyes widened again, finish the first draft and then make the second draft as shiny as a new penny and cliche free.

What cliches do you find in your writing? Any particular cliche you see often when reading that really bothers you?  Are you familiar with The Emotional Thesaurus and its sequels? And why couldn't I figure out how to get the accent mark over the 'e' in cliche?

One Stop For Writers – A Powerhouse Online Library!

Angela Ackerman shares a little about how this site got started and what it has to offer:

One Stop For Writers is a collaboration between the authors of The Emotion Thesaurus, Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, and Lee Powell, the creator of Scrivener for Windows. This unique site is a powerhouse online library filled with tools to supply writers with inspiration, education, and powerful description resources which will elevate their writing and save them time.

If you’re familiar with the Descriptive Thesaurus Collections at Writers Helping Writers as well as the Emotion, Positive Trait, and Negative Trait books you will have a good idea of the type of description help you’ll find at One Stop. Along with these expanded and enhanced collections the site has many worksheets, research templates and even an idea generator unlike anything else you’ve seen.

Angela, Becca and Lee built this site because they know crafting a strong story is hard work, and it requires a lot of juggling to research descriptive detail and characterization and then find time to get those words down on the page. It’s their hope that the One Stop library will help writers find what they need faster so more of their time is spent actually writing.

From the creators of The Emotion Thesaurus comes a brand new writing tool - One Stop For Writers

If there's one thing all writers agree on, it's that writing is TOUGH. The road to publication twists and dips as we learn the craft, hone our abilities, create stories we're passionate about, fight discouragement, educate ourselves about the industry...and then start the process all over again as we realize there's room to improve. But you know what? If you are like me, you wouldn't have it any other way.

Finding a good writing book, a helpful blog, a mentor or critique partner to share the journey with...these things are gems along the writing path.

And guess what? Maybe there's another resource waiting just up the road called One Stop For Writers.

One Stop For Writers is not writing software, but rather a powerful online library that contains tools, unique description collections, helpful tutorials and much more, brought to you by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, the authors of The Emotion Thesaurus, and Lee Powell, the creator of Scrivener for Windows.

They have a lot of promotional stuff going on for the launch and you can view some of the discounts and giveaways HERE.

There’s also a video that explains how it all works HERE.

This is an awesome new site – think it will help you on your writing journey?