I attended a wonderful workshop last night. Author Evangeline Denmark shared several solid tools for avoiding cliches. If you ever get a chance to take a workshop from her, don't miss it. And if you need a laugh, check out her blog, Breathe In, Breathe Out.
One of the resources Denmark mentioned was the blog How to Slay a Cliche. I've blogged several times about cliche resources, and this is another good one.
The author, Wordsmith, takes a different cliche in each post, and rewrites them five times. Writers can search through the many dozens of cliches already rewritten, and are encouraged to add their own rewrites in the comments. For ease of use, there's an alphabetical listing of the cliches already posted.
And to give you one spot for cliche advice, here are links to the previous cliche resources, all of them amazing:
Are You Blind? Digging Out Cliches in Your Manuscript--includes a link to the wonderful Cliche Finder.
No More Cookie Cutters: Avoiding Cliches to Create Original Fiction--links to lists of cliches and four different types of cliches you may never have considered.
What do Cliches Do to Your Readers? Three things you don't want to subject your readers to.
Are you a cliche player, or a cliche slayer?
It was so neat to see you last night. What an unexpected delight!
ReplyDeleteI love cliche blogs and websites. I can just get lost in reading and researching them and thinking of ways to turn them around. How to Slay a Cliche is one of my favorite sites.
I'm so glad you mentioned this one. Sometimes the familiar words get so entrenched in my mind, I have a hard time coming up with something new. However, your fun exercises last night were wonderful!
ReplyDelete~Debbie
Thanks for the fantastic links. They are great. Must...kill...those cliches ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda. Best of luck on your rampage.
ReplyDelete~Debbie
Well, this is as slick as a pregnant opposum sliding through a watermelon patch at midnight. :) Another dense post. Thank you, Debbie!
ReplyDeleteYou have such a way with words! You're not a children's author, are you? :)
ReplyDelete~Debbie
Well, my DAY job is a college math instructor so imagine how I TEACH. It's how I get those students hooked!
ReplyDeleteYour students are lucky!
ReplyDelete~Debbie