Friday Writing Prompt: Cliches

I'm obsessed with all sorts of dos and don'ts, especially those involving the written word. During the past week or so, I've mulled over cliches. Most editors will tell their authors never, ever to use them, and the reason is that they weaken the writing. Readers glaze over those phrases, never internalizing them.

This isn't good.

Of course, how do we know we're using cliches? They tend to slip in when we're least expecting them; when we're not paying attention. I propose we force ourselves to recognize these phrases. :-)

My challenge, to get you into your writing this week:

Write a poem/short story/memoir/essay/advertisement/novel/whatever else you feel like writing (fiction and non-fiction). It can be humorous or serious.

Rules:

• You must use three cliches.
• You must start out your writing with, "It was a dark and stormy night," which counts as one of the three clichés.

And that's it! Good luck!

Let me know how it goes. :-)