I Think It's Too Cliche

22 // Overused words

Hello beautiful readers! It's been a while... anyways welcome back :) Another requested chapter! Thank you🤍 awhmunsu

Okay, so I did some research so you guys don't have to. Yes that's so nice of me, I know. It turns out there is a ton of overused words and its hard because some of them we use without even thinking about it.

According to Grammarly-
•other
•more
•new
•good
•best
•many
•important
•great
•first
are all overused and I agree. So for replacements they used more formal language, which is good when you're writing a novel or letter. But if you're just writing on wattpad for fun, I don't see a problem.

Next I got this amazing website- get ready for it- that's all about clichés. My favorite.

Common cliche sayings:
*All that glitters isn't gold
*Don't get your knickers in a twist (i mean...)
*All for one, and one for all (are we musketeers now?)
*Kiss and make up (barf so overused)
*He has his tail between his legs
*And they all lived happily ever after (can I die?)
*Cat got your tongue? (🤦🏻‍♀️)
*Read between the lines
*Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed (please stop using it 🙏🏻 i beg you)
*We're not laughing at you we're laughing with you (that way or the other)

And then did more research and two common words that popped up were:
•was- yes I was surprised too! See what I did there ;)  So I should probably explain... or Google explain.

Unfortunately, "was" can be connected to passive sentence structure. Passive sentences are considered weak sentences by many in the writing industry because it takes the focus of the sentence off of the subject and places it onto the object. The advice they gave is to cut all the "wases" from your writing.

Here's an example-
"There was a fountain pen sitting on the table."
Change it to-
"A fountain pen sat on the table."

•see (and its alternative forms saw, seen, seeing) Okay from what I can understand is that it is a filtering word and what that means is that instead of staying close in the character's head, we're forcing the reader to jump back and be reminded that they are not the character. So basically, it creates a wall between the reader and the story.

"Dan saw the children playing in the grass. He saw the smallest one throwing a ball. And there, he saw upon the ground a smattering or balls painted as bright as Easter eggs."

Now get rid of the saws.

"Before Dan, children played in the grass. The smallest one throwing a ball. Scattered upon the ground were a smattering of balls painted as bright as Easter eggs."

I hope all that makes sense and can help improve your writing! :) To finish this chapter off I'm listing words that you can just completely cut out from your writing:

-suddenly (by jumping directly into the action, you allow the reader to experience that suddenness first hand)

-then (you can almost always eliminate your thens without disrupting meaning or flow)

-in order to (almost never need the phrase to prove a point)

-very and really (Mark Twain suggested that writers could "substitute damn every time you're inclined to write very; your editor will delete it and the writing will just be as it should be.")

-is (whatever form your is takes, it's likely useless)

-started (any action a person takes is started, continued and finished. All three of these can be expressed by the root form of the verb)

-that (is useful for adding clarity, but the word's presence is often out of place)

-like (like is used to show uncertainty. And you. Should. Not. Be. Uncertain.) like I was eating like this pizza and like this girl like came up to me and she was like can i have a bite. Like is she like crazy?💁🏻‍♀️

If you have any more words, don't be afraid to leave a comment!

Oh one last thing, please comment romantic scenes that you are so tired of reading here. Thanks! >>