Whoever first described it as “a blanket of snow” really nailed it. Hearing the words for the first time, one must admire the conception, the thought process, the beauty of finding just the right words. Sometimes it seems that once so perfect a descriptive phrase is coined, it’s impossible to find better words, to even come up with something different.
For a writer, it presents an even more real problem. The phrase becomes stuck in one’s mind and we cannot move beyond it. Clichés are hard to keep out of our writing, but their use is one of the new writer’s biggest downfalls. We must remember that just as it is familiar and natural to us to use it, it is just as familiar to editors and readers, and the words–beautiful as they be–are mentally discarded in the same second they are recognized. Used a few too many clichés, and the entire piece becomes a bore, second-hand, and rejected.
When I find myself using an overused phrase in my writing, I will type it in so that the flow of words is not brought to an abrupt halt, but using bold typeface so that it is easily spotted when I go back and edit. Unless to achieve an effect, for example, to emphasize a point, or in dialogue to expose a dull character, clichés should not be used lest they expose instead a dull writer.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology