I read somewhere that cliches are a no-no, so I generally avoid them if I want the piece to be published. It forces you to find new ways of expressing yourself, and I've often been delighted by the result. I can't think of any particular examples, but that's not helpful. So, I'll say, for my Substack, it's called No Girl is an Island, and we all know it originally was penned No Man is an Island by John Donne. This is the easiest example I can think of, of switching something out to make it original.
As far as edits go, I try to remember the point of the post. If it doesn't fit, then it has to go, no matter how clever I was here or there. I used to pride myself on tangents and making odd connections, but early on in a writing group, I got the advice that while that's great, I needed to hone it in. xo
That sounds like great advice from your writing group (I’m still searching for one here in HK!). It’s certainly challenging though when you spend time crafting a sentence/paragraph and you think ‘ok, that works’, and then the next day you’re like, ‘why did I include that?’
I love the name of your newsletter. When I think of the topics and themes that you write about the title fits perfectly ☺️
I read somewhere that cliches are a no-no, so I generally avoid them if I want the piece to be published. It forces you to find new ways of expressing yourself, and I've often been delighted by the result. I can't think of any particular examples, but that's not helpful. So, I'll say, for my Substack, it's called No Girl is an Island, and we all know it originally was penned No Man is an Island by John Donne. This is the easiest example I can think of, of switching something out to make it original.
As far as edits go, I try to remember the point of the post. If it doesn't fit, then it has to go, no matter how clever I was here or there. I used to pride myself on tangents and making odd connections, but early on in a writing group, I got the advice that while that's great, I needed to hone it in. xo
That sounds like great advice from your writing group (I’m still searching for one here in HK!). It’s certainly challenging though when you spend time crafting a sentence/paragraph and you think ‘ok, that works’, and then the next day you’re like, ‘why did I include that?’
I love the name of your newsletter. When I think of the topics and themes that you write about the title fits perfectly ☺️
Thank you, Sarah. I needed to hear that this morning.