Eliminating cliches
After writing your initial draft, you should look for cliches in
your work.
Omit a phrase if it is
- frequently used.
- predictable.
- imprecise.
- too conversational.
To eliminate cliches in your writing
- identify all of the
cliches.
- ask yourself what you are trying to
say.
- formalize your language (a dictionary
or thesaurus may help).
Example:
Medical supplies are so few and far between that even civilians
who are as sick as dogs cannot get treatment.
- Identify the cliches. This
sentence contains two of them: "few and far between" and "sick as
dogs."
- Ask yourself what the author is
trying to say. Few and far between means that medical
supplies are not available. Sick as dogs means that someone is
gravely ill.
- Formalize the language.
Medical supplies are so scarce that even seriously ill civilians
cannot get treatment.