When I was fifteen an ardent admirer posted me a letter and signed himself off with "Puddles of Purple Passion." Never having had such colorful passion aimed at me before, I was embarrassed but secretly flattered that someone saw past my mouthful of metal braces and rubber bands. I made the mistake of reading it to my best friend who nearly wet her pants laughing...
I never realized it at the time, despite the mention of the color purple, that it was my first acquaintance with the 'deadly purple prose' syndrome.
As Jack M. Bickham tells us in his book 'The 30 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (And How to Avoid them)' - At best it is a pretty but cumbersome and distracting effort to get at the finest detail... not necessary to the readers understanding of the story."
While I understand that the exact hue of a sunset might not be necessary all the time and could be boring if done throughout the story, but a few 'puddles of purple passion' did brighten up the day of a young teenager many years ago, and is still thought of fondly many years later even if the name of it's author has vanished into the mists of time.
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3 comments:
Purple prose. Ahhh ... there is a site I linked from a previous post on my blog about Purple Prose. I shall endeavour to find it for you and send you the think. It was called the Purple Prose Eater. It was a hoot, I think the thing that got me was "throbbing meatsticks of love." YUCK!
But if down right purple prose can work. Linda Berdoll wrote a continuation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and keeping with tradition kept it in a prose that Austen might have used had she described Darcy and Elizabeth's "connubial connexions."
Sorry I meant send you the link not the think.
Throbbing meatsticks of love....??? I agree YUCK! I'm pleased my ardent admirer chose the puddles of purple passion. Look forward to receiving the link
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