January 22, 2010

STOP: Don't do it. [Egregious Clichés]

Writers, writers, writers.
Please. If you're a budding writer, a hopeful author, or even just a person who occasionally writes lists, PLEASE do not stoop to using clichés. Please. Do. Not.

I just had to put down a book because of this sentence:

The tailor smiled and his stitches flew, faster than she could think.

Look: no one, but no one sews faster than a person can think. And if they can sew faster than she can think, then boy has she got a problem.

Writers, you have been warned. Don't Do It.


This has been a public service announcement of the Most Egregious Language Blunders. Thank-you.

3 comments:

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Very well said. You made a powerful point, and you did it humorously - you rock!

Hannah said...

Thanks for making me giggle. Come to think of it, you're absolutely right!

Kristi said...

I hate running across something like that in an otherwise good book - it completely jars me out of the story.