1. Clichés Created by Kathryn Reilly

2. Cliché Basics What are clichés? Clichés are overused phrases or ideas. What do clichés look like? Under the weather feeling blue take a chill pill you can’t teach an old dog new tricks a matter of life and death easy as pie

3. » Let’s take a look! Can you think Of anymore Clichés?

4. Common Clichés Below are very common clichés to avoid when writing (this is just a tiny list!). – All talk, no action – Cold shoulder – Cute as a button – Facts of life – Hold your horses – Jack of all trades – Kiss and tell – My two cents – Read my lips

5. Using or Avoiding Clichés For the most part, writers should avoid clichés. – They are considered unoriginal – Audiences become bored quickly – Clichés tend to be wordy – Clichés should be avoided in academic writing Writers can use clichés sparingly – In creative writing – In speeches

6. Avoiding Clichés Mark my words: A writer should always rely on original words. When editing the text, if a writer spots a cliché he or she should try to rephrase the text. Don’t get bent out of shape, the ball is in the your court. The long and short of it is entire websites are devoted to helping writers eliminate clichés, as they are nothing to write home about!

7. Horror Clichés Clichés exist in many forms – they are not unique to writing. This illustration identifies horror movie clichés. In other words, horror plots that are over done, predictable and should be avoided. Creative Commons image http://th01.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2010/040/3 /1/20_Horror_Movie_Cliches_by_EllaBlack.png

8. For More Help… Try these websites:  http://www.westegg.com/cliche/ http://www.westegg.com/cliche/  http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to- avoid-cliches.aspx http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to- avoid-cliches.aspx  http://suspense.net/whitefish/cliche.htm http://suspense.net/whitefish/cliche.htm