Avoid excessive use of common clichés in your writing

One of the first steps in avoiding overuse of common clichés in your writing is to first learn how to identify them. We are so used to hearing them in our daily conversation that we sometimes forget that they make our writing dry and boring.

Here are some examples of clichés or overused phrases and what you could say instead:

“Everyday life” – this is a common cliché that can be completely eliminated in most cases. You can also remedy this by being more specific. Everyday life can vary depending on who you are and where you are in life. Speak directly and specifically to whom you are speaking.

“In today’s society” – you can remove it with a simple “today” or “currently”.

“Pros and Cons” – try using the pros and cons or maybe the costs and benefits

Some other types of cliché phrases that often crop up in article writing include:

· All walks of life

writing on the wall

Winds of change

Hook, line and sinker

The calm before the storm

nip it in the bud / nip it in the bud

It sticks out like a sore thumb

jumps and limits

chewing a little

sleeping dog lie

run for the hills

the devil’s work

Avoid it like the plague

The future depends on it

slippery slope

the existence of bane

Often these phrases are used as a method to illustrate a point. Since they are well-known phrases, we think it will be easier to make our point using them. The problem with this is twofold: First, you’ve lost an entire audience to anyone who doesn’t know what these phrases are. Second, you’re not finding a new, unique, or interesting way to say what you want to express. There’s nothing creative about reusing an old cliché over and over again.

There are so many great words out there and so many great ways to use them that you’ll want to challenge yourself to avoid these common clichés and find new ways to get your point across. A good exercise to help you do this is to freewrite for a certain period of time and then read what you have written. Print it out and highlight the cliché or overused phrases so you can really notice it and avoid it in the future. This will help you reduce the amount of clichés you use from now on and your writing will be stronger and more interesting.