: Clichéd Actions I sometimes catch myself writing excessively clichéd descriptions - not in the words, but in what the characters do. For example, they always seems to end up pacing up and

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While some computer programs are helpful in simple tasks, they can't pick out things like clichés, redundancies, and word salad (unnecessary filler words). That requires the fresh perspective, which can only come from others such as fellow writers, beta readers, editors, etc.

The best advice for any writer is to read your manuscript aloud, rewrite, get it critiqued by others, and get it edited. By editing, I mean by someone else. Doing it yourself is called revising...though working with an editor includes back-and-forth revisions.

My advice isn't influenced by the fact that I'm an editor. I'm also a writer who can't edit her own work. We all need help (Even Stephen King or J.K. Rowling need editors). So, don't feel bad. Keep your eyes wide open. Good luck with your writing!

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Clichéd descriptions and hackneyed actions exist in writing because they are such common occurrences in real life. For example, when people are waiting anxiously for something, they often really do pace up and down the room. I've done it; you've done it. And people often use clichés in real life, e.g., "it's raining cats and dogs out there" or "she was mad as hell." So, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with having clichés and hackneyed actions as a part of your writing. They become bad when they either appear too often, or appear out of the blue with no prior (or even post) explanation. The worst is when they occur simply to rescue your protagonist from a corner you've painted him into. Then you're using a cliché to bring about the dreaded deus ex machine (already a major cliché).

As for a list: The problem with providing a list of clichés and hackneyed actions is that it would basically consist of a list of things that are so commonly said and done in real life that they speak for themselves. They are a shorthand for something more. You wind up inadvertently breaking the "show, don't tell" rule, because when an action (the "show") is clichéd or hackneyed, it is really a "tell" in disguise.

John paced about the room = John was nervous.

John wolfed his food down = John was very hungry.

However, you can use this to your advantage, provided the main point of the paragraph is something else:

John wolfed his food down while he told about the soldiers in the forest. "They had all the roads covered -- even the deer trails. I had to climb Spine Rocks and crawl along the ridge at night." He gulped a swig of mead. "Took me three days. Thought I was a dead man." He got up and paced around the room. "What I want to know is, how did they know I'd be going through the forest? Do we have a traitor, or does Queen Hecate have the Seer Stone?"

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People do pace up and down when tense. It's hardly more of a cliché than depicting them as crying when sad. Make them say or think surprising and non-clichéd things while they pace.

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There is an immense collection of common tropes and clichés, with plentiful usage examples, at tvtropes.

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