To Be Original....

Wordsmithing is such a tricky thing. One moment I feel wonderfully original--creative phrases and metaphors flow from my fingertips onto the keyboard and everything goes smoothly. Then I'm afraid it's going too smoothly--that I'm just recycling stock phrases and tired cliches gleaned from other authors.

So what is it? 

Am I using too many adjectives, am I using too few? Are "became a blur", "pointed looks", "no longer paying attention", "blinked furiously", "clearing the cobwebs", "the figure straightened", etc. all just over-used, meaningless phrases? Is my "well balanced" sentence structure falling into a mind-numbing pattern?


Alas, self-doubt would seem to be the writer's constant companion.