We’re all guilty of lazy writing sometimes. We use adages and clichés, which are used second-hand thoughts, when we should be writing first thoughts of our own.  Here’s a tip to think under those clichés. Pick an adage. Any one will do.  Don’t judge a book by its cover.  When it rains it pours. Now write what the truth is under that adage. See if you can find your first thoughts.  Here is what I wrote once when doing this exercise. I used the adage Silence is Golden.

Silence is golden, the old adage says. No. Silence is many colors, one at a time. Silence is the compulsively clean white fur of a snotty Persian cat. Silence is the deep green at the edge of the forest that beckons you into danger. It is the yellow sun-butter roses of the garden, lazily glowing in the mellow afternoon, their hot breath drugging the bees. Silence is blue shadows lying on winter snow the moment before nightfall, and the pale lavender pouches under tired eyes, hinting the exhaustion of wasted lives. Silence is singular and condensed; it is one slow deep thrust of color at a time.

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