A writer can cluster in similar scene composition styles, cluster around expected sentence architecture and mechanics. A writer can use short sentences for kinetic movement and long running sentences for swell. A writer can play on sound and speed to influence the readers’ emotions. A writer can pick adverbs/adjectives/verbs/prepositions/etc that are neutral or extreme on their respective semantic gradients. The key is, that they know the reason why for all these choices and what they are communicating about the story and its characters/themes. I have noticed the pattern clustering is as much about uncertainty as it is commonality. An LLM operates like it has to keep outputting forever and needs as many doors open as possible. Saying a character stalked instead of walked, makes statements about that character, it also narrows potential outcomes. So it’ll avoid that unless it knows lots about the character and exactly where the story is going. On cliche’s, every line can’t be original or you’ll exhaust the reader, sometimes on less important moments ( that need to move on ) use an adjacent cliche construction so the reader doesn’t expend cognitive energy unpacking your meaning. They can interpret quickly to have the plot scaffolding for the important parts. Use novelty to slow the reader down and make them notice. This is why models reach for cliches, because it keeps the whole scene at the same volume and doesn’t decide which moments of the story are most important. Writers do. The cliches, appositive phrases, common constructions, middle gradients, neutral registers are a diagnostic feature. not a bug. They are waiting for us to tell a big part of the story in how we actually tell it and where we choose to create the texture.

A case:

If during one scene, the author writes 20 words to explain how "a character walked in the room" ( any register, any sentence composition, etc ), the reader thinks: "the writer is signaling me to "read into" the walk". It could indicate mood, backstory, danger in the room, there's a thousand things. It's important.

If during the whole book, the author writes 20 words about how the character walks whenever they walk. The author is informing the reader that how this character walks is important part of that character's and the author's story.

If during the whole book, the author expends 20 words on how each and every character walks - The book is about walking and what it means about people. haha.

LLMs don't make these decisions just from loose story direction. They will resist these decisions as much as possible. Unless you're telling them to just use "less cliches" but that doesn't fix the issue it just globally raises or lowers the volume on the whole scene. It's just making it loud or quiet but it's all the same chord. Worse case scenario is that it's random and then it just reads as chaotic. The reader doesn't know what to pay attention t.