That Sounds Familiar: Cut Often-Used Words in Your Writing

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

It takes a lot of work to write well, and sometimes we go for what's easiest instead of what's original. 

During the drafting stage of a manuscript, some phrases and combinations of words tend to roll off our fingers and into our stories because they're easy. These phrases aren’t clichés, per se, but they’ve been used so often by enough writers that they carry the same feeling as a cliché when readers read them.Beamed a smileCacophony of soundShrugged a shoulderHair flowed down her backAny kind of glow from any kind of lightReleasing a breath you didn't realize you were holdingThey also tend to sound “right” to us, and that's the problem. 
We automatically use them without thinking, and that robs us of the chance to write something unique to our voice and style.Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com