An early semester exercise is to spend some time writing really bad cliches. I chalk the following lines on the board and ask my Intro Creative Writing students to fill in the blanks with the expected words and phrases:
He was _________, dark, and handsome.
Beautiful ____________ _________________ hair.
The waves _____________ upon the _____________ beach.
The baby _______________ happily.
Her eyes shone like __________________.
We end up with something like this:
He was tall, dark, and handsome.
Beautiful, long blonde hair.
The waves crashed upon the sandy beach.
The baby cooed happily.
Her eyes shone like diamonds.
Then I ask them to fills the blanks again but this time with surprises:
He was dead, dark, and handsome.
Beautiful slashes of grey hair.
The waves sucked upon the bubbling beach.
The baby urinated happily.
Her eyes shone like dead roses.
This don't always work, but the exercise enourages students to break rules. We then take the words from the first set of blanks and switch them around.
He was long, dark, and handsome.
Beautiful, diamond-bright hair.
The waves cooed upon the tall beach.
The baby crashed happily.
Her eyes shone like sand.
All in the service of breaking up word packages. For the next week at least, they take chances with their writing. This risk taking sometimes wanes as the weeks go on, so the topic should be revisited several times. It's a good ice-breaker for those sessions where no-one wants to talk or write.
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