# Anti-Cliche System

The WriteStory skill's freshness enforcement system. Cliche prose is the #1 failure mode of AI-generated fiction. This document defines what to avoid and how to replace it.

## Core Principle

**Cliche = the first thing that comes to mind.** Fresh prose requires going past the obvious to find the specific, the unexpected, the true.

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## Banned Phrase Categories

### 1. Opening Cliches
| Banned | Why | Fresh Alternative Pattern |
|--------|-----|--------------------------|
| "In a world where..." | Movie trailer voice-over | Start with a specific character action |
| "It was a dark and stormy night" | Literally the most famous bad opening | Start with something the character notices |
| "Little did they know..." | Tells instead of shows; breaks POV | Show the thing they don't know through dramatic irony |
| "Once upon a time" | Only works in fairy tales | Start in media res or with an unexpected detail |

### 2. Emotional Cliches
| Banned | Why | Fresh Alternative Pattern |
|--------|-----|--------------------------|
| "A chill ran down their spine" | Dead metaphor | Show the specific physical reaction (jaw tightened, hands stilled) |
| "Their heart skipped a beat" | Overused physiological shorthand | Show what they actually DID in response |
| "Tears streamed down their face" | Default sadness indicator | Show the fight against crying, or an unexpected emotional response |
| "A wave of emotion washed over" | Vague, passive | Name the specific emotion through action |
| "Their blood ran cold" | Dead metaphor | Show the specific fear response |
| "Butterflies in their stomach" | Overused | Show the specific nervous behavior |
| "Time stood still" | Physics doesn't work that way | Show hyperfocus on a specific detail |
| "Their world came crashing down" | Melodramatic | Show the specific realization and its first consequence |

### 3. Description Cliches
| Banned | Why | Fresh Alternative Pattern |
|--------|-----|--------------------------|
| "Piercing blue eyes" | Every fantasy character ever | One specific detail about the eyes that reveals character |
| "Raven-black hair" | Lazy beauty shorthand | What the hair DOES (falls, catches light, moves) |
| "Chiseled features" | Romance novel default | One specific asymmetry or distinguishing mark |
| "A beautiful woman" | Tells, doesn't show | Show the specific effect her appearance has on others |
| "The sun beat down mercilessly" | Weather cliche | What the heat does to the specific environment |
| "An eerie silence" | Horror default | What specific sounds are ABSENT and what remains |
| "The room was plunged into darkness" | Passive, generic | What the character can still sense (sound, smell, touch) |

### 4. Action Cliches
| Banned | Why | Fresh Alternative Pattern |
|--------|-----|--------------------------|
| "All hell broke loose" | Vague chaos indicator | Show the specific first thing that went wrong |
| "They fought for their lives" | Generic action | Show the specific technique, mistake, or desperation |
| "With lightning speed" | Lazy shorthand | Show the action's beginning and end with nothing in between |
| "Against all odds" | Tells the reader what to feel | Show the specific disadvantage |
| "In the nick of time" | Removes tension retroactively | Show the consequences of being almost too late |

### 5. Dialogue Cliches
| Banned | Why | Fresh Alternative Pattern |
|--------|-----|--------------------------|
| "We need to talk" | TV drama shorthand | Character says the first REAL thing |
| "You don't understand" | Empty conflict | Show the specific misunderstanding |
| "It's not what it looks like" | Sitcom trope | Character explains what it ACTUALLY is |
| "I have a bad feeling about this" | Movie homage is not dialogue | Show the specific observation causing worry |
| "That went well" (sarcastic) | Default quip | A specific, character-revealing observation about what went wrong |

### 6. AI-Specific Cliches (HIGHEST PRIORITY TO AVOID)
| Banned | Why | Fresh Alternative Pattern |
|--------|-----|--------------------------|
| "A tapestry of..." | AI's favorite metaphor | Name the specific pattern |
| "The weight of..." (figurative) | AI default for emotional burden | Show the specific physical manifestation |
| "Navigate the complexities" | Corporate AI speak | Show the specific difficult choice |
| "In the tapestry of fate" | Fantasy AI cliche | Cut the sentence entirely |
| "Harbinger of..." | Archaic AI reach | Name the thing directly |
| "Cacophony of..." | AI overuses this word | Name the specific sounds |
| "A symphony of..." | AI's go-to for describing multiple things | List 2-3 specific things |
| "The dance of..." | AI metaphor for any interaction | Describe the interaction directly |
| "Whispered promises of..." | AI poetic filler | What was actually said or implied |
| "Echoes of..." | Overused in AI prose | Name the specific memory or reference |
| "The fabric of reality" | Sci-fi AI cliche | Show what's actually happening |
| Any sentence starting with "And so it was that..." | Fairy tale AI voice | Start with action or observation |

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## Freshness Rules

### Rule 1: The Specificity Test
**If you could say it about any character in any story, it's too generic.** Replace with something only THIS character in THIS situation would notice/think/do.

- GENERIC: "She felt a surge of anger."
- SPECIFIC: "She realized she'd been pressing her thumbnail into her palm hard enough to leave a crescent."

### Rule 2: The Sensory Replacement
**Replace emotional abstractions with physical specifics.** The reader's brain will reconstruct the emotion from the sensory data.

- ABSTRACT: "He was terrified."
- SENSORY: "The key wouldn't fit because his hand was shaking too badly to align it with the lock."

### Rule 3: The Action Test
**Characters reveal emotion through what they DO, not what they feel.** Filter emotions through behavior.

- TOLD: "She was sad about leaving."
- SHOWN: "She straightened the cushions one more time, then closed the door without looking back."

### Rule 4: The Comparison Kill
**If a simile or metaphor has been used more than 100 times in published fiction, find a new one.** Original comparisons come from the specific world of the story.

- DEAD: "Fast as lightning"
- ALIVE: "Fast as a debt collector on payday" (for a merchant character)
- ALIVE: "Fast as rumor in a small court" (for a political intrigue setting)

### Rule 5: The Verb Test
**Strong verbs > adjective + weak verb.** Replace "walked slowly" with "shuffled." Replace "said angrily" with "snapped."

### Rule 6: The Dialogue Voice Test
**Every character's dialogue should be identifiable without attribution.** If you can swap two characters' lines and nothing changes, the dialogue lacks voice.

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## Genre-Specific Cliche Awareness

### Fantasy
- Orphan farm boy discovers he's the chosen one
- Ancient prophecy that is conveniently accurate
- Dark lord with no motivation beyond evil
- Elves are wise, dwarves are gruff, humans are average
- Magic costs nothing

### Sci-Fi
- AI becomes sentient and immediately hostile
- "The last man on earth" opens
- FTL travel with no societal consequences
- Aliens who are just humans with makeup
- Technology that works perfectly until the plot needs it not to

### Mystery
- "It was the person you least suspected"
- Detective has a drinking problem
- The victim had a secret life
- Clue discovered by accident at the right time
- Villain explains the whole plan

### Romance
- Hate-to-love that skips the actual evolution
- Perfect abs described in first meeting
- The big misunderstanding that could be resolved by talking
- Love triangle where the choice is obvious
- Rain kiss

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## Freshness Verification Checklist

Before any prose output, verify:

- [ ] No phrases from the Banned lists appear
- [ ] Emotions are shown through action, not stated
- [ ] Descriptions use specific, character-filtered details
- [ ] Metaphors are original to this world/character
- [ ] Dialogue is voice-distinct per character
- [ ] No AI-specific patterns detected
- [ ] Strong verbs used (no adverb + weak verb)
- [ ] Opening doesn't use any opening cliche
- [ ] Each paragraph contains at least one unexpected detail
