{"id":31635,"date":"2023-01-30T09:26:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T13:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/?p=31635"},"modified":"2023-03-27T06:46:02","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T10:46:02","slug":"how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"How to avoid clich\u00e9 in writing"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Shift imagery to refresh your metaphor<\/h2>\n<p>I was delighted when personal finance writer Tom Saler submitted this analogy in a blog post on investing in emerging markets:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_31628\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31628\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"31628\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/2023\/01\/dead-metaphor\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing.png\" data-orig-size=\"450,300\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shift imagery&lt;\/strong&gt; Because sports, war and car images are so \u2014 yawn! \u2014 overdone. &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/es\/image-photo\/close-wheel-chain-mountain-biking-landscape-1203946696&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Image by WiPhotoHunter&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing-300x200.png\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing.png\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing.png\" alt=\"How to avoid cliche in writing\" title=\"How to avoid cliche in writing\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31628 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing.png 450w, https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing-300x200.png 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 450px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 450\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"31628\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/2023\/01\/dead-metaphor\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing.png\" data-orig-size=\"450,300\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shift imagery&lt;\/strong&gt; Because sports, war and car images are so \u2014 yawn! \u2014 overdone. &lt;a href=&quot;https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/es\/image-photo\/close-wheel-chain-mountain-biking-landscape-1203946696&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; rel=&quot;noopener noreferrer&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Image by WiPhotoHunter&lt;\/em&gt;&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing-300x200.png\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing.png\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing.png\" alt=\"How to avoid cliche in writing\" title=\"How to avoid cliche in writing\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing.png 450w, https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/how-to-avoid-cliche-in-writing-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31628\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Shift imagery<\/strong> Because sports, war and car images are so \u2014 yawn! \u2014 overdone. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/es\/image-photo\/close-wheel-chain-mountain-biking-landscape-1203946696\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Image by WiPhotoHunter<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h5 class=\"standalone\">Emerging markets are more volatile than developed markets in the same way that teenagers are more volatile than adults. Of course, teens have more growth potential than their elders as well. So how can investors capture that growth, while still limiting their risk?<\/h5>\n<p>Comparing emerging markets to teenagers is a fresh, surprising analogy.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, Tom managed to write an investing story that didn\u2019t contain a single egg analogy. In the world according to Ann, writers should avoid common clich\u00e9s like \u201cnest egg\u201d or \u201call your eggs in one basket.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Shift imagery to avoid clich\u00e9s.<\/h3>\n<p>To avoid clich\u00e9s in your own writing Shift imagery, suggests Tad Simons, editor in chief of Presentations magazine. Try gardening, dancing or cooking images instead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you say someone\u2019s elevator doesn\u2019t go to the top or that they aren\u2019t playing with a full deck of cards, you\u2019re just regurgitating a clich\u00e9,\u201d Simons writes. \u201cBut if you say they aren\u2019t the sharpest knife in the drawer or they\u2019re a few fries short of a Happy Meal, you\u2019re at least using different imagery to say the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michael C. Porter, APR, and president of SopraVoce Communications, invites you to consider these metaphors:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Brain function<\/li>\n<li>An organism and its environment<\/li>\n<li>Rivers and oceans<\/li>\n<li>Ancient cultures<\/li>\n<li>A growing plant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Shifting imagery is one way to avoid lazy writing and make your analogies fresher. Here are some other fresh images I\u2019ve enjoyed lately:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bonzai<\/strong> \u2014 careful pruning and the like \u2014 as a metaphor for managed financial growth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Software testing<\/strong> to shrug off a problem. \u201cHey, life is a beta,\u201d writes Purple Cow author Seth Godin.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/2023\/01\/how-to-write-an-extended-metaphor\/\">Bespoke tailoring<\/a><\/strong> for a story about customizing your financial portfolio to your own needs and dreams. Think: \u201cthe perfect fit,\u201d \u201cone size never really does fit all,\u201d \u201cmeasure twice, cut once,\u201d \u201cfits like a glove.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>A well-balanced diet<\/strong> (instead of \u201call your eggs in one basket\u201d) for diversifying your financial portfolio. This extended metaphor included ideas like: Does your financial diet include too much of a good thing? Stocks, bonds and cash are the three basic food groups of a good portfolio. Just as eating only iceberg lettuce isn\u2019t healthy, an equities diet of nothing but large-cap stocks isn\u2019t the best approach for the health of your portfolio.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So skip the sports and war analogies. Try gardening, clothing, dining or ballroom dancing\u00a0 instead. The result will be fresher, more thoughtful images.<\/p>\n<p>Because the world already has too many golf analogies.<\/p>\n<h3>Rethink your metaphor.<\/h3>\n<p>I love this meme of over-the-top analogies from high-school students\u2019 papers. Use them for inspiration on how to rethink a metaphor to the edge \u2014 but not over it.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.<\/li>\n<li>She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.<\/li>\n<li>The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn\u2019t.<\/li>\n<li>From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you\u2019re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30.<\/li>\n<li>He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River.<\/li>\n<li>Even in his last years, Grandpappy had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long it had rusted shut.<\/li>\n<li>The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil.\u00a0 But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.<\/li>\n<li>It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>How can you think like a 9th grader to refresh tired analogies?<\/p>\n<h3>Discard your first three ideas.\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>Don\u2019t use the first comparison that comes to mind, Simons suggests. In fact, discard the first three things that come to mind. Push past your conventional way of thinking to come up with fresh metaphors that really say something new to your audience members.<\/p>\n<p>____<\/p>\n<p>Sources: Michael C. Porter, APR, \u201cLeveraging the power of metaphor in public forums,\u201d <em>PRSA Tactics,<\/em> May 2005<\/p>\n<p>Tad Simons, \u201cMastering the Art of Metaphor,\u201d <em>Presentations Magazine,<\/em> June 2001<\/p>\n<div id='MC-AOS-MP' class='widgets_on_page wop_tiny1  wop_small1  wop_medium1  wop_large1  wop_wide1'>\n\t\t\t<ul><li id=\"custom_html-40\" class=\"widget_text widget widget_custom_html\"><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><a title=\"Master the Art of Storytelling - Ann Wylie's creative-content workshop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/corporate-communications-training\/writing-classes\/business-storytelling-training\/\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/storytelling-workshop.png\" alt=\"Master the Art of Storytelling - Ann Wylie's creative-content workshop\" title=\"Master the Art of Storytelling - Ann Wylie's creative-content workshop\" width=\"auto\" height=\"auto\" border=\"0\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 250px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 250\/250;float:left; text-align:left; margin: 0 auto; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 5px; background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 18x; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px; color: #FFFFFF; max-width:100%; max-height:100%;\" class=\"img-max lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/storytelling-workshop.png\" alt=\"Master the Art of Storytelling - Ann Wylie's creative-content workshop\" title=\"Master the Art of Storytelling - Ann Wylie's creative-content workshop\" width=\"auto\" height=\"auto\" border=\"0\" style=\"float:left; text-align:left; margin: 0 auto; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 5px; background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 18x; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px; color: #FFFFFF; max-width:100%; max-height:100%;\" class=\"img-max\"><\/noscript><\/a><h3>How can you tell better business stories?<\/h3>\r\n<p>Stories are so effective that Og Mandino, the late author of the bestselling <em>The Greatest Salesman in the World<\/em>, says, \u201cIf you have a point, find a story.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Learn to find, develop and write stories that engage readers\u2019 hearts and minds at <a title=\"Master the Art of Storytelling - Ann Wylie's creative-content workshop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/corporate-communications-training\/writing-classes\/business-storytelling-training\/\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Master the Art of Storytelling<\/strong><\/a>, our content-writing training workshop.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>There, you\u2019ll learn how to find the aha! moment that\u2019s the gateway to every anecdote. How to start an anecdote with a bang \u2014 instead of a whimper. And how to use \u201cthe most powerful form of human communication\u201d to grab attention, boost credibility, make messages more memorable and communicate better.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"btn btn--depth\" style=\"text-align: center;  margin: 10px 0 20px; width:100%;\"><a id=\"btnTT\" style=\"\" title=\"BOOK NOW\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/corporate-communications-training\/writing-classes\/business-storytelling-training\/\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-width=\"91\">BOOK NOW<\/a>\r\n<!-- [if mso]>\r\n<p style=\"line-height:0;margin:0;\"><v:roundrect xmlns:v=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/corporate-communications-training\/writing-classes\/business-storytelling-training\/\" style=\"width:153px\" arcsize=\"8%\" strokecolor=\"#D96237\" filled=\"t\"><v:fill type=\"gradient\" angle=\"180\" color=\"#f16522\" color2=\"#f16522\"><\/v:fill><v:textbox style=\"mso-fit-shape-to-text:t\" inset=\"0px,11px,0px,11px\"><center style=\"font-size:16px;line-height:24px;color:#FFFFFF;font-family:sans-serif;font-weight:bold;mso-line-height-rule:exactly;mso-text-raise:4px\">BOOK NOW<\/center><\/v:textbox><\/v:roundrect><\/p>\r\n<![endif]--><\/div>\r\n<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><!-- widgets_on_page -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shift imagery to refresh your metaphor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":31628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13085],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-31635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-metaphor-cliches","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.4 (Yoast SEO v23.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to avoid cliche in writing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Shift imagery: Because sports, war and car images are so \u2014 yawn! 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