Clichés in your memoir—you need them like you need a hole in the head.

As I work with writers in my coaching and editing practice, I notice that many do not seem aware to avoid clichés lurking everywhere in their pages. They just don’t seem to be on the alert.

“Avoid clichés. Don’t let a cliché get you down in the dumps,” I tell them. “Better late than never to learn!”

Oops, I’m doing clichés again! I’ll be a good boy and not do them anymore.

I give my writers a shorthand: if it sounds like you’ve heard it before it is probably a cliché.

By the way, if you...