Tropes I Don't Like

Overused Sentences

I could probably word this title better, but it is the best I could come up with.

To put it simply, this is the topic of different sentences and descriptions found in fiction books that you find a lot in modern day literature. Some of them are not a big deal, others are plainly annoying.

Let's start of with this one:

"I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding."

This sentence may be varied in wording when you come across it, but it seems to bother many people, including me.

First off, if you were to have held your breath for a long period of time, you would realize it. It seems that some characters have the unnatural ability to hold their breath without becoming light-headed or feeling sick. It seems that these characters are completely oblivious to the dangers of having too much CO2 within their bloodstreams if they hold their breath for too long — shouldn't they pass out due to the lack of oxygen? (oh wait, they don't seem to suffer from any problems...).

This sentence is typically used in a romantic scene when the main characters sees someone who is considered attractive. And, according to them, they held this super long breath for so long and just let it out.

I get this sentence is used to sound romantic and emotional in some cases, however, you can make variations of the sentence to make it more original and ... realistic!

Other sentences are found throughout books that do bother me, but not as much as the one I just showed; here is a list of some:

1. "I was electrified."

There are other variants to this sentence, but they all reference to electricity usually in the form of a metaphor.

I see this sentence the most when there is a romance-based scene. One of the characters (in first person most of the time) describes a kiss as being "electrifying."
This gets annoying because it is overused. There are many other ways to describe a kiss (or any other things being described as electrifying).

2. "I froze."

The quote, "I froze," is often used when a character is shocked at a situation, especially when their body feels like as if it has suddenly "froze."

This is a good way to describe a character being shocked or scared in a situation. That is because it is accurate to how someone would feel in certain situations.
However, what bothers me is this: "I froze," is sometimes not enough to describe how one is feeling. I find that many YA authors don't go into enough detail to describe how their character is feeling when they use that quotation.

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I apologize for the smaller chapter. It has been very busy for me.

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Currently, I am working on new concepts for science fiction stories. One of them I am working on to finish a first draft.
I am hoping to put something new up here by February-March of 2018.