Have you ever been cruising along writing and then “bang” you hit a wall, you get stuck on a metaphor? Or maybe you should have used a simile? You think and think, but they all sound so cliché.  But you do know that YOU ARE stuck.  You just can’t find the exact phrase for your paragraph and you are about ready to throw in the towel.   However, don’t bite the bullet, yet.  You still have another hour of writing left today.  Oh well, try not to rack your brains over it.  

Where did all these phrases come from anyway?   Come to think of it, where did the phrase “rack your brains” come from?  Evidently, the origin of this expression came from a medieval instrument called a “rack”.   It was used to torture prisoners by placing the victim’s hands and legs in a rack type apparatus and then the person was stretched over rollers slowing dislocating and tearing the limbs from the body.  This gruesome torture is compared to “racking” your brain when you are trying to detach your ideas, words or a memory from your brain and it’s torture to do so. 

Do you get writers block, while torturing your brain for the perfect words that fit your scene to a tee?  All writers do.   Don’t get hung up on semantics, you have to keep writing.  It’s just a draft.  Move on. 

The best way to get off the dime is to skip the perfectionism and move on by the seat of your pants.  Remember that getting in your word count is the goal, and getting it down on paper is more important.  The perfect phrase can come later; besides many phrases have lost most of their impact because of overuse.  So don’t be lazy and fill in with a trite simile.  Be more off the cuff and stick to your guns when it comes to your writing goals.   Move on without the perfect phrase. 

Besides if you push the envelope, that perfect phrase will be there later or maybe it’s not needed in the scene after all.  You get the gist of it.  

Here are some a few of my favorite phrases or words translated:

• Synonym- a word you use when you can’t spell the other one.
• Syntax- a way in which you pay for your misdemeanors.
• A brief- Why do lawyers write a 10,000 word document and call it a “brief”?
• Parasites- What you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
• Pharmacist- No, it is NOT a helper on a farm.
• Polarize- No, it’s NOT what penguins see with.
• Toad- What happened to an illegally parked frog. 
• Vacuum Cleaner-  A broom with a stomach.
• A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. -Thomas Mann

What are your favorite clichés and quotes?  Have you heard any new “go to” phrases?