--Anton Chekhov in a letter to his brother 5/10/1886
I don't just mean avoiding phrases like "float your boat." I also mean cliche plots.
So you've written your first draft(s). You made probably hundreds of choices throughout the book, some without knowing it. Now let's explore down the paths you didn't take. One way to do this is what Butler calls "Dreamstorming." Put your character in your world and have them move around. Have them take all possible paths, make all different choices and see where each leads. It will not only help you understand your character, but it will lead to the best chain of events. (This is only a fragment of what Dreamstorming is, by the way.)
Something that I like to do is write a scene by making all the obvious choices. Okay, so this is a love scene. I decide that it will take place on the cliffs of Wales: a beautiful setting for a beautiful scene. Right. That was the obvious choice. Now let's go back and rewrite the scene with a less obvious setting. This time it takes place in a holding cell in a police station in Baltimore. So to conclude, find out what's the most obvious chain of events and do something different.
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