of constant cliché dodging

I try so hard not to write—or speak—in clichés, but trying to hard to do anything means it is inevitable that something will go wrong. I can’t get away from clichés. I am probably using one right now, in this bit of prose. I cannot write without thinking about them: either thinking about how dumb they sound or thinking about how not to use them. This is, perhaps, the biggest flaw in my writing. I wish I could write effortlessly again. It’s been so hard as of late. Nothing is flowing and everything sounds boring, jaded, and done before. The only thing I can do is cling to the one work of fiction that I wrote and love and just keep working to make it better—but it is so clichéd as well and my characters are starting to frustrate me.

Not only is my writing cliché nowadays– my life is starting to sound like an episode of Degrassi, a Taylor Swift song and a John Green book all wrapped in one.  How do you get away from clichés? How do you make your writing flow again? I need HELP.