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Verbal cliches are particular words or turns of phrase that end up everywhere and repeated a lot. While there's nothing necessarily story-ruining about them, it's not a bad idea to try to avoid them for a couple of reasons: It makes your writing a little more likely to stand out from the crowd, and it encourages you to think in new directions. So here's a list of verbal cliches to consider dropping from your vocabulary unless they're absolutely necessary.
A certain
All of a sudden
As always/usual
Did I forget to mention that/Have I mentioned that
Is/are, in fact
Is/was your average/ordinary
Let's just say
Manage/managed to
Needless to say (If it's needless to say, don't say it. If you had to say it, it wasn't needless to say. Figure out which it is and commit to it!)
Not exactly/precisely
Oh, and
One day
Opposites attract (This isn't even true, not in the way people want it to be. People who seem very different can end up together, but it's not because opposites have some magical attracting quality. It's usually because of other factors that draw and hold them together.)
Random
Says it all
So, yeah
The male/female (Unless the story is talking about biological or medical matters, this just sounds really clunky.)
A thing
Typical (Especially when it's used to describe situations or characters that are not typical at all.)
Also, watch out for your own personal verbal cliches! Are there any words or turns of phrase you use a lot that don't actually add any meaning or depth to what you're saying? Or are there ways that you could rephrase what you're trying to say without certain words or turns of phrase that you often use? Do you have any jargon in your vocabulary from your job or a hobby? Challenge yourself to go without them for awhile!