![]() ![]() But I kept at it, and my understanding of words grew stronger each day. It was still a few more years before I could choose appropriate words on purpose, and even longer before I could recognize it in other people's work. As I kept writing, practicing, and working, a balance slowly emerged. The end result was erratic and awkward images and emotions. When I wrote my first novel, I was just getting used to the idea that I needed to use powerful words. It took me years to figure out that powerful words are absolutely necessary to any story, but they are applied in different ways depending on what you’re writing. Then, I went to the other extreme and chose zero powerful words. I had taken my poetry-writing strategy and applied it to story-writing, and it didn’t work. When I wrote my first short story, it was filled with purple prose. You can’t mince words in poetry, and you have to choose the most powerful words possible. When I started out writing over twenty years ago, I wrote poetry – where you only have a few lines to tell an entire story. This is probably because she doesn’t trust the reader to understand on his own, or she lacks confidence in her own skill to get the story across. ![]() In the above example, it sounds like the author is trying too hard to get her message across. If you said too many adjectives and adverbs, heavy-handed similes, redundancy, and awkward images and emotion, you’d be correct. She frantically clutched at it, fearful she would lose its memories of blissfully carefree days.Īt first glance, what do you notice about this paragraph? The wind gusted in short bursts, howling eerily in her ears and tearing at the shawl draped morosely across her shoulders. Tia stared pensively into the eyes of the heavy yolk of the setting sun, glistening tears flowing down her moist cheeks. The words go beyond packing a punch and leave bruises on the reader. Purple prose is a choice of words that aren’t there for the sake of the story, they’re there for the sake of themselves. Purple prose generally evokes senses beyond what the story requires, which can sometimes make the reader feel manipulated or talked-down-to. Purple prose is a term that describes profligate, overly complex, or flowery word choices that break the flow of the story. So, for those of you who don’t know, here’s a definition. When I first heard this phrase twenty-some years ago, I had no idea what it meant. And there are words that sort of whisper by, hardly saying or doing anything. Those words can pack a punch, thrusting a clear visual in the reader’s face. There are many different ways to write, and many different words to choose from. ![]()
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