Yes, even Taylor Swift is a damsel in distress.

The woman – with her beautiful blonde tresses and impossibly petite frame – struggles mightily against the bonds that tie her to the railroad tracks. She screams for (insert hero) to rush to her aid before (insert villain) has his way and she meets a brutal and untimely end.

Pretty standard, right?

It sure is. But, somehow, writers –especially newbies—will find themselves unknowingly reinventing very clichéd, very tired plot points.

Heck, I have to make a dedicated effort to catch myself before slipping into the mundane.

Be sure to keep your story authentic.

Here’s a great piece. Check out “10 Tips to Avoid Clichés in Writing,” written by Peter Selgin at Writer’s Digest.com:

It’s not enough to love our story ideas. We need to weigh their suitability as subjects for fiction, and then figure out how to go about making use of them.

This means steering clear of cliché and its sappy cousin—melodrama. Here are 10 tips to help you do just that.

Avoid Stolen or Borrowed Tales

A writer’s job is to write stories—not to steal or borrow them and, with a coat of fresh paint, pawn them off as original.

To read the rest of the article, click here!