Purple Prose

“Purple prose is a term of literary criticism used to describe passages, or sometimes entire literary works, written in prose so overly extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw attention to itself. Purple prose is sensually evocative beyond the requirements of its context. It also refers to writing that employs certain rhetorical effects such as exaggerated sentiment or pathos in an attempt to manipulate a reader's response.”—Wikipedia.org

Purple prose can come from powerful verbs, gaudy descriptors, constantly too-wistful thoughts, or excessively intellectual vocabulary—or worse yet—all of them!

The following brilliant example was intentionally written by Brian Barrett, posted at The Brain Rummager:

Hermione gazed pensively across the moor, her bosom hanging low, like the menacing storm clouds above, while her tears mingled moistly with the miasmic mountain mist. The sound of distant thunder brought to her mind memories of the past, of a time when the world was young and she was blissfully carefree. She shrugged her shabbily shawled shoulders, and allowed a weary smile to loosen her lips as Sir Reginald apprehensively approached.

If readers trip over literary techniques that take their heads out of the story (like triple alliteration in Brian’s last sentence-ROFLOL!), you’ve got yerself some purple prose, and a lot of work to do.

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