Steven Millhauser

What I dislike is conventional realism - a system of gestures, descriptions, psychological revelations that was once a vital way of representing the world but has become hackneyed through endless repetition. I'd argue that a conventional realist isn't a realist at all, but a falsifier of the real.

American Novelist

Alastair Reynolds

No idea should be discarded completely, but - as one might imagine - it does take a degree of ingenuity to find a new spin on something as hackneyed as the 'Adam and Eve' story. But if you think you've got the chops for it, there's no reason not to try.

British Author

Lucy Dacus

Writing has never been an intentional endeavor to me. I know a lot of people have experiences and then sit down and try to sort them out through song, but whenever I sit down to write, it comes out hackneyed or overly saccharine.

American Musician

Michael Feinstein

As hackneyed and cliche as it sounds, follow your heart. We are all given intuition and instincts, and sometimes it is hard to follow those instincts with the fears and pressures that surround us - but you have to do it.

Jeff Lindsay

I question every word; I write 'the' and immediately feel scorn. It's such an ordinary word - everybody uses it - why can't I come up with something original? In the sunlight, every single word seems hackneyed.

American Playwright

Victoria Strauss

Pay it forward' has become a hackneyed concept, but I truly believe in it, and it gives me huge satisfaction to be able to help writers in a measurable way.

American Author

Iain Sinclair

Hackney at certain epochs has given itself suburban airs and graces, before being slapped down and consigned once more to the dump bin of aborted ambition.

British Writer

Victoria Coren Mitchell

Women are under-represented in TV comedy for a variety of reasons, the hackneyed 'fear that women aren't funny' being one of them.

English Writer

Sharon Horgan

Hackney gets a bit of a bad rap, but it's the only place I've ever lived that felt like a community. I know my neighbours.

Irish Actress

Mike Birbiglia

Alienation, I suppose, can't be hackneyed because it will always exist.

American Comedian

In creative work, using 'hackneyed' concepts might make the work seem unoriginal.

Avoid in Innovation

'Hackneyed' often has a negative connotation, suggesting a lack of creativity or freshness.

Use with Caution

Phrases become 'hackneyed' when they're overused in certain contexts or genres, such as romance or horror.

Recognize Saturation

 turning out these sorts of designs that I was expected to do because that's who I was, and I was living in this cycle of going from serious to solemn to hackneyed to dead, and getting rediscovered all over again. So, here was the second condition