Replacing Cliches - Celebrate Originality

How many times do you run across these every day clichés? We hear them all the time, but in writing fiction, we’re cautioned against using them. But how do you keep yourself from using what’s already been established as the ole famous way of saying what everyone wants to say? That’s why originality is so important in establishing your voice.

Here's another writing exercise I read about in The Five-Minute Writer by Margret Geraghty. This fun exercise helped improve my confidence in stepping outside the box and being a bit more original. Maybe in doing so, I’ve missed the mark at some point, but it was still fun.

Try to rewrite these clichés by replacing the italicized word(s) below. I will never get bored with writing exercises. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.


Flat as a pancake

Flat as a girl who pads her triple A bra


Good as gold

Good as knowing you're wearing fresh underwear just before you wreck your car


Faster than a bat out of hell

Faster than Susan Rice making network rounds in order to blame a video for what happened in Ben Ghazi


Charging around like a bull in a china shop

Charging around like Napolean on a basketball court


Pretty as a picture

Pretty as Marilyn Monroe standing over a subway vent


Slow as a snail

Slow as Obama proclaiming Israel is our friend


Hard as nails

Hard as finding government employees in the aftermath of hurricane Sandy


Meek as a lamb

Meek as an English teacher from Great Britain teaching at a high school in South Compton, L.A.


White as a sheet

White as Michael Jackson at a rap concert


Silent as the grave

Silent as a crowded elevator when a midget steps in


Cold as ice

Cold as the first splash from a bidet on a flaming hemorrhoid


Go ahead, try them! This was so much fun my day has gone by faster than a speeding bullet (I had to).