104 Creative-Writing Cliches...LOL

104 A single tear that runs, flows, trickles or glistens.
103 Anybody with something in his or her heart.
102 The word muted or garish plus any color.
101 Anbody who's just sayin' anything.
100 Anybody who struggles or strains to do anything.
099 A character who is worried sick.
098 Any monster, pet, specter, child, raven or grandma who has fiery eyes.
097 Anything that sheds light on anything else.
096 Anything that is staring anything or anyone in the face.
095 Any character who takes a close(r) look at something.
094 Anybody who is stopped in his tracks.
093 Any machine, sporting equipment, animal, food or human jackass that defies gravity.
092 Any emotion that overwhelms anything.
091 Any sentiment that goes without saying.
090 Anybody who does anything when all else fails.
089 Any person who decides to waste no time in doing something.
088 Anything that is precariously hanging, particularly if precariously hanging in the balance.
087 Anything or anybody threatening to do anything else, such as rain, jump from a high place, leaving a marriage, snow, sleet, melt, or ruin a vacation.
086 Any character who moves anywhere doggedly.
085 Any crowd, conglomeration, room, group, herd, audience or congregation that falls silent.
084 Any epiphany that is specially referred to as “an epiphany”.
083 Any bond that is unbreakable or sealing in anything.
082 Any character who reveals her true feelings about something.
081 Any statement, promise, legal document, poetic sentiment, assertion, conclusion or claim that is nothing more (or less) than…
080 Anything that is seemingly something else. 
079 Some revelation, claim, statement or assertion that couldn't be further from the truth.
078 Any huge mistake, particularly one that someone will regret for the rest of his life.
077 A character who does something in broad daylight.
076 A legal question that becomes a court battle.
075 Someone who has to deal with the harsh reality of something or other.
074 Any description that includes a wide variety of anything.
073 Insects, parasites, diseases, storms, catastrophes, processions, old men, digestive maladies or stunning realizations that make their way from one place to another.
072 Anything that nestles anywhere, especially in mountains or a lovey valley, or between, under or near breasts.
071 A Republican businessman villain or evil Republican senator.
070 Any description of vomit.
069 A character who goes down the path of something, especially a path of no return.
068 Any thought or action that's on the brink of any other thought or action.
067 Any character, plan, machine, drug, plot twist, assumption with a fatal flaw.
066 Any protagonist, villain, animal, nemesis or competitor who is no match for anybody or anything else.
065 Any chips that might be down.
064 Anyone who must stop and think.
063 Anything that plays a major or minor role in anything else.
062 Anything that is defined by Webster as..
061 Any dramatic situation where the stage is set for something.
060 Any character who takes pride in anyting.
059 Anybody who brings anything to life.
058 Anyone who is bored to tears.
057 Anyone who bridges a gap (or bridges any seemingly unbridgable emtoinal divid, epseically while being self-sactificing)
056 Anyone who reaches for the forbidden fruit of...
055 Anyone who runs the gamut of anything, particularly emotions.
054 An alienated teenager whom the rest of us just don't understand.
053 Any town where word travels fast.
052 That obsession with ____[fill in the blank]___was an unrecognized plea for...
051 Any character who pensively lights a cigarette while thinking pensively about something pensive at a peculiarly pensive moment in the plot.
050 The word Yo plus any dialogue.
049 A car pulling into or out of the driveway.
048 Any car that throws a spray of gravel into the air as it exists a driveway.
047 Anything that fills the air, espeically silence, anticipation...or gravel.
046 Any character who is overpowered or overcome by any feeling.
045 Pets that are treated like members of the family.
044 Relief that floods anywhere.
043 That first bittersweet sexual encounter was so...
042 Any object, thought, fear or anxiety that is looming somewhere, especially if looming large.
041 Anything on any street that is dimly lit.
040 Any wind, guest, breeze, tornado, hurricane or baby that is howling.
039 Any person who is standing alone, particularly if he is standing alone and doing something else.
038 Any heart, ocean, fist or headache that pounds.
037 Any hole, wound, grave, cavern, doorway, ravine, tunnel, gap, outlet, break that is gaping.
036 Any winter day that is gray, particularly one that is gray and...
035 Any corridor, hallway, passage, channel, waterway, riddle, or complex which becomes a maze (or labyrinth) of anything else.
034 The only, as in: His only opportunity to...; Her only hope was...; His only clue became...
033 Any character who does anything in silence (as in wait, linger, eat, run, work, or drive).
032 Anything so clean it is spotless.
031 Any building that lurks or towers, particulary on the corner or edge of something.
030 Air that is still or heavy, especially air that is still and heavy.
029 Suburbia! - a place of horrifying conformity, moral stultification and emotional emptiness.
028 The inner city! - a place of horrifying non conformity, moral stultification and emtional emptiness.
027 Secondary characters consisting of science nerds, lecherous professors, moronic coaches, or maniacally disturbed janitors and/or cafeteria workers.
026 A vulnerable, wounded (wo)man who discovers the healing power of love when...
025 A vulnerable, wounded (wo)man who finally comes out of the closet after...
024 Any character with hands-on experience.
023 Any spotlight that is on someone or something.
022 Any safe haven.
021 Anyone who harnesses the power of anything.
020 Anyone who puts the finishing touches on anything.
019 Any character introduced as an old friend.
018 Anyone who would hate to think something.
017 Any experience that comes alive through (or because of) something else.
016 Anything that has a special place in anybody's heart, mind, or soul.
015 Anyone or anything that is just begging for something
014 A witty gay friend or sidekick who always has the perfect ironic retort and yet proves in the end to be morally couragous and sentimentally supportive.
013 Any woman in high heels who emerges from any vehicle, especially if she is doing ti slowly...and with long slender legs.
012 Any character who bravely faced their greatest fears.
011 Any building, sculpture, window, villain, stone, woman or weather that is described as (generic adjective) and cold, as in: wet and cold; gray and cold; harsh and cold
010 Any sweet little boy or innocent old lady who uses foul language.
009 Any dumb, distant or abusive dad who is responsible for all the bad things that happen in a character's life.
008 Any bright, spunky heroine who is frustrated by sexist clods and prevails... until one day she has to be recused by boyfriend, husband, brother, father, grandfather, or witty gay friend...who's still a bit of a jerk but who is basically a good guy and probably ought to be given another chance anyhow because, as we all know, there just aren't that many great guys out there in the first place.
007 Any iconoclastic, vulnerable, lonely and damaged postmodern hero or heroine who's searching for someone of something  to believe in but can't surrender his or her hard-earned skepticism because he or she has got too darned much intellectual integrity.
006 Any male character who is a complicated blend of strength and sensitivity.
005 Exclamation marks!
004 Anything included in a story for the sole reason that it happend in real life.
003 The top 10 of anything.
002 Ellipses
001 Personification! of any breeze, storm, body of water, cloud, fog, building, mountain, mist, swamp, bar, tree, flower, flock, fish, portrait, planet, start, boy part, farm animal, city, time of day, room, weapon, clothing or food.

by Randy F. Nelson from September 2008 issue of The Writer