Find a new cliché

Like a vending machine sandwich, clichés are convenient when low on time or energy. But while the former threatens only your stomach, indulging in cliché gives the rest of the world gas. If you care about anything, you must find a new cliché.

The word “cliché” is a chunk of French, an onomatopoeia evoking the sound of a stereotyped block in a typesetter’s shop. A means to crank out a ready-made phrase (literally), instead of placing type letter by letter.

Every convenience comes at a cost. Comfort is a curse.

Clichés are constructed of truth, but seldom the particular truths you mean to convey. It’s OK to occasionally steal a boost from the poets of yore, but you are a poet too. You don’t need to borrow an idiom, because you are more than qualified to invent your own.

Cast your own stereotypes and when you’re done, smash the mold to pieces too.