The 'bit my lip' cliche has been used A LOT. The one I'm seeing a lot of lately is 'sucked on a tooth'. As in, she sucked on a tooth, trying to choose between the two. All I picture is a huge tongue pushing lips out. Not the visual I think the author was shooting for.
Does anyone else follow BroodingYAHero on Twitter?
Don't forget there is also Typical YA Heroine and YA Best Friend, among others.
This thread is so amusing! The crooked smiles thing is rampant, but I've noticed recently that more authors seem to be writing about how a character's mouth "bunches to one side" instead. It was weird the first time I read it, but now I'm pretty sure I use that phrase once in my own manuscript...
Other clichés: well, there's the whole "leaning" thing, like certain characters can't seem to get through a scene without leaning against something. Also, the taut/tense jaw or a muscle jumping along (usually a male) character's jaw--must be a "manly" way of showing emotion, or something? I'm guilty of that one, too. Lots of arms being crossed and fingernails digging into palms (guilty and guilty).
Oh, and a character thinking something, only to realize they said it aloud! Which has happened in my real life exactly zero times.
I haven't noticed it in any books I've read lately. BUT, now that you've mentioned it and I have read your post, I'm sure I will see something along the lines of a crooked smile in every YA book I read from here on out. It's like those quirks people have, but we love them so much we don't notice it until someone else points it out, and then you can't un-see it or un-hear it.
Holding a breath she didn't know she was holding -- I hate that line so much. Every time I see it in a client's book, I have to comment on it. How do you not know you're holding your breath?
"When Wade's car gets close to my house, hot blood rushes to my ears. I fight the urge to hide my face in my hands like I used to when I was seven and force myself to look toward the driveway. I’m pleasantly surprised to see it’s not Dad’s red truck parked under the basketball hoop. It’s my uncle’s navy-blue one.
Uncle Billy must’ve got my message, and came here to help Mom “fix” things. Which is good. Out of Dad’s six brothers, Uncle Billy is the only one who lives close and has always been Dad’s favorite. Maybe because he’s the oldest, and he took good care of Dad the way Grandpa never would.
I exhale with relief, then realize I’ve been holding my breath."
Is this better, or would you not like this, too?
I have a crooked smile. When I smile, my mouth pulls much farther to the left than it does to the right, so my smile is very lopsided to the left. It makes it look like I'm mostly smiling with just the left side of my mouth, like a full, very happy smile on that side glued to a small, so-so smile on the other. So that's what my crooked smile looks like.
OK, here's one I've noticed over the years that's probably has more to do with the marketing than the writing: Books where the person on the cover looks suspiciously like the author.