3 Ways to Kill Clichés

Don't be predictable.

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3 Ways to Kill Clichés

My friend’s voice sounded tired, like it was the twentieth time that day he had to explain why his fiance called off the wedding. He’d sent me an email a few days before, breaking the news. I called to check on him, giving one of those classic, “you don’t have to talk about it, unless you want to” caveats.

As he filled me in, I searched for the right words. What came out was, “Well, at least this happened before the wedding, right?”

To my surprise, he laughed. ”You just made it onto my top 10 list.”

“Huh?”

“When she cancelled the wedding, I made a list of the clichés people would say to me. What you just said is on the list.”

It wasn’t mean-spirited, just honest. I faked a laugh, but felt like I failed as a friend. Here was an opportunity to say something thoughtful, but all I offered was a predictable platitude.

How to Avoid Clichés

Avoiding clichés isn’t easy. Without meaning to, we bore readers with worn-out phrases like:

Read between the lines.
Better safe than sorry.
What goes around comes around.

Most writers assume if they avoid such phrases, clichés won’t plague their writing. But it’s not that simple. You can avoid every trite expression and still come off canned. Whole paragraphs can feel predictable and out of touch, which scatters readers faster than roaches when the lights flip on.

So, how can you avoid clichés in your writing?

1. Get more specific

Clichés prefer the shallows, where everything feels broad and common knowledge, so the solution is to dig deeper.

For example, you could write a book about why technology is making us more anxious. The problem is, it’s too broad. Everyone’s heard about the ills of smartphones and social media. It’s too high-level; you need to zoom in.

Using the same topic of technology, consider the success of Jonathan Haidt’s latest book, The Anxious Generation. Though he is writing about the ills of technology (broad topic), he focuses on how it’s affecting the mental health of adolescents (specific). As a result, it’s way more marketable to the millions of parents trying to care for their kids.

David Perell writes:

“If you want to avoid clichés, don’t write from a 10,000-foot view. It’s like Google Maps, which isn’t relevant for daily life until you zoom in enough to see the roads and highways you need to reach your destination.”

As you brainstorm ideas, narrow your topic as much as possible. In the process, clichés will be squeezed out.

2. Acknowledge the elephant

Some topics are so visceral, no amount of wordsmithing seems to do them justice. How do you write about losing a child, encountering the grace of God, fighting or overcoming cancer, or betrayal by a best friend, in a way that honors the enormity of those experiences?

In her book, Experiencing Friendship with God, Faith Eury Cho articulates how, in the face of life’s biggest questions, words fall short:

“Anyone asking these questions is increasingly intolerant of religious fluff and niceties, no longer willing to settle for inspirational words but rather aching for authentic change… After you have endured repeated letdowns, one after the other, positive thinking and good strategy feel desperately futile—like holding an umbrella in the face of a tsunami.”

When you feel ill-equipped to capture something with words, just own it. Acknowledge the elephant in the room: Nothing I can say is sufficient. This pain is too deep. This truth is too beautiful. This longing is too otherworldly.

Admitting your limitation is a sign of wisdom, not weakness. It sounds simplistic, but sometimes the best way to crush a cliché is to call it out.

Simple phrases like, “I know this sounds cliché, but…” or “I know this comes off trite…” or “How can I ever do justice to the fact that…” go a long way.

3. Write against it

A simple tactic for killing a cliché is to write against it. Flip conventional wisdom on its head.

For instance, instead of saying, “This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” say, “If this is the opportunity of a lifetime, then why does it feel like the worst decision I’ve ever made?”

This jolts readers by offering a contrarian take, forcing them to consider an old adage in a new light.

Why it matters

Avoiding clichés is not about being cool; it’s about putting in the work to do your best work—for the sake of readers. No matter what you say (or how you say it), someone out there will roll their eyes and write you off. That’s okay—you can’t please everyone.

If you know who you’re writing to, and what resonates with them, the extra effort to make your writing fresh and unpredictable will pay off.

I’m rooting for you.

Will

PS - Don’t forget, I’m rolling out a course on “How to Build a Book Proposal.” Join the waitlist here.

Will is the founder of Writers Circle, a community to help writers sharpen their skills and publish their work for the glory of Jesus. He is a senior editor at Waterbrook and Multnomah—an imprint of Penguin Random House.