: What techniques do you use to invent snappy turns of phrase? We all know clichés are bad[1] and that fresh, inventive and "fitting" phrases will delight and entertain our readers. What

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...angelheaded hipsters burning for the
ancient heavenly connection to the
starry dynamo in the machinery of
night

I listen to readings of Allen Ginsberg poetry.

Howl

Supermarket in California

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If you're writing in your own original world, try to think of the kinds of things that are present in that world. I actually spent quite a while thinking about what possible phrases could exist in various areas of my current fantasy world. Try to imagine how the idiom you are trying to create could have come about in the setting. Include imagery that would be important to the people involved.

For example, someone who lives in a society with an evil necromancer overlord might say "to work like the dead" meaning to work tirelessly. Obviously, if your story doesn't have necromancers, you can't use that example, but the point is to think about the society you're working with and make the idioms make sense.

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The random word approach is not as bad as you think:

Divide a piece of paper into three columns
Write nouns randomly in the first column and cover it
Write verbs into the second and cover it (same amount as nouns)
Write adjectives into the third column (same amount as nouns)
Phrase a sentence which each row

Write ten sentences each day of one week and you will be surprised about the return on investment. If you're an "adjective killer" you can skip that column ;)

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