- Clichés are phrases, images, or beats so overused they have gone stale.
- They appear at the language level and the story level.
- Familiar phrasing often signals an unexamined choice.
- Replace clichés with specific, fresh, story-true alternatives.
- Some clichés are fine in moderation; the goal is awareness.
Edit out clichés by hunting for the phrasing and beats that arrived too easily — "heart pounding," "time stood still," the wise mentor, the chosen one — because what feels automatic is often borrowed. Replace each with something specific to your characters and world rather than the default. Watch for clichés at both levels: tired language and tired story situations. The aim is awareness, not zero familiarity; the worst ones are the ones you never noticed writing.
Chapter i·Why it matters
Clichés signal unoriginal thinking to readers and agents, and they accumulate invisibly because they are, by definition, the phrases that come to mind first. A manuscript full of them feels generic even when the story is strong. Learning to catch and replace clichés — especially the ones you wrote on autopilot — sharpens prose and distinguishes your voice. Specific, fresh choices are what make writing feel alive rather than secondhand.
Chapter ii·What to include
- A scan for tired phrases and stock images.
- A check for clichéd situations and character types.
- Attention to phrasing that came too easily.
- Specific, story-true replacements.
- Restraint — not every familiar phrase must go.
- A read-aloud or fresh-eyes pass to catch them.
Chapter iii·Example
A writer flags "her blood ran cold" and a stock "grizzled detective." She replaces the phrase with a specific physical reaction true to her character, and gives the detective an unexpected trait that breaks the type. The prose stops sounding borrowed and starts sounding like hers.
Chapter iv·Related questions
WriteLoom's Edit studio helps you flag tired phrasing and stock beats, so your prose reads fresh instead of secondhand.
See the Edit studio