Dead Phrases Are Killing Your Writing.

Overused and clichéd expressions act as placeholders for genuine insight and delude the potency of your writing.

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Your brain unconsciously and effortlessly defaults to 20–30 phrases when you compose sentences. These phrases include:

1. Pursue that avenue
2. The Achilles’ heel
3. Secret sauce
4. Literally

These so-called “dead phrases” have been drained of all life and impact. They’re linguistic shortcuts that stem from your reluctance to search for more precise words.

These habitual ready-made phrases not only impoverish your writing but also signal laziness in thought.

Articulacy in writing demands a deliberate use of words. A conscious effort to forge fresh, homemade sentences.

Albeit this is hard, the alternative is assembling sentences from a kit of dead phrases, which results in a bland, uninspiring piece of text.

Expanding Your Lexicon

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Your dry, lifeless sentences are caused by a small lexicon (limited vocabulary), which has confined you to a narrow…