Which phrases or descriptions do you feel are overused?

Submitted by WEugeneSmith t3_z5hmye in books

On another thread, a poster mentioned how frequently "I let out a breath I did not know I was holding."

This got me thinking about phrases I run across frequently, to the point that they lose their effectiveness.

  • Russian nesting dolls.

This is used so often to illustrate everything from complicated personalities to mysterious motives. Every once and awhile, they are actually talking about dolls. . . .

  • When on the phone, "I nodded, realizing he (the person on the phone) could not see it.

I am sure there are many more. What have you noticed?

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Comments

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Dazzling-Ad4701 t1_ixwanmz wrote

the single tear trickling. ESPECIALLY if it was 'sparkling on her eyelashes' only a moment before.

also, the 'quivering' chin or lip to denote heroic resistance to tears. that's a real thing but have you ever seen it happen to someone? it's not attractive.

being distraught enough to cry is bad enough without having ridiculously unrealistic glamour standards to live up to while doing it.

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minimalist_coach t1_ixw74p5 wrote

Dust motes. I started noticing its use late last year and I will say that it's been used in 75% of the books that I've read in every single genre.

Digging nails into palms to keep emotions under control is another phrase that I've read so many times in the past year, again in all genres.

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jeepressed t1_ixw8jdz wrote

Or taking note of the crescent moon lines left in the skin of the palm when the character didn't realize they were digging their nails into their palm

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PansyOHara t1_ixxcgcv wrote

IMO all of these are fine—but can definitely be overused very easily. If such a phrase recurs more than a couple of times in a medium-length novel or more than once in a short story; or if several of these examples are sprinkled throughout, it’s a sign that the author is overly fond of cliches (and I’m guilty of that!)

A good editor will help the author spot these and encourage either more creativity or something more stark and understated in some cases. Certainly IMO when an author wants to convey emotional distress, these descriptions help to convey the character’s state of mind. So it’s very tempting to use familiar phrases that are likely to come off as trite instead. Not easy!

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JimmyMittens t1_ixw7dqj wrote

It gave him/her 'a start'.

The alarm sounded with such a shrill cry that it gave poor old Mr. Jennings a start.

Not sure why, but I really dislike it. I see the phrase quite often, particularly in older British novels.

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WallyZona t1_ixws2uz wrote

Abandoned anything

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