Are You Unapologetically Purple?

Something that tends to go hand in hand with self description is purple prose.  When a writer uses both together, it can make for peculiar, preposterous, and piquant prose.  Or, without the purpleness, a funny—unintentionally funny--scene.  However, the laughs are probably NOT the kind of laughs a serious romance writer is intending to elicit through her description.

Yet it happens, and I see it again and again.  What is purple prose?  It’s flowery, ornate, over-the-top overly descriptive language.  Thirty or forty years ago, purple prose was widely used, especially in romances.  It was, in fact, enough to give the romance genre a bad reputation. 

Here are a couple of examples of self description coupled with purple prose.

“Her unbelievably long, ebony lashes fanned out over her sparkling emerald orbs.”

“His smoky eyes blazed at her even as his tanned, muscled arms held her off.”

Even today, whether on TV or in the movies, when a screenwriter has a romance writer or romance novel in the story and wants to elicit a laugh from the audience, you can be sure a line of purple prose will be used.  Think of the school guidance counselor in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You with Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles.  Ms. Perky, the counselor, writes romance novels in her spare time (and while she’s at school, presumably while she’s paid to be a counselor) and has one of the funniest scenes in the movie when she reads aloud as she types her manuscript, “…at the sight of Reginald’s stiff…swollen…turgid…”  Ms. Perky is at a loss for just the right word.

In walks student Kat (Julia Stiles) at the opportune time and offers up, “Tumescent?”

“Perfect,” replies Ms. Perky.

At the end of the scene, Kat leaves and says, “I’ll let you get back to Reginald and his quivering member.”

To which Ms. Perky repeats to herself, “Quivering member…I like that.”

Admittedly, it’s a funny scene, and there are those who believe that actress Allison Janney, as Ms. Perky, steals the film.  And yet purple prose of the type enjoyed by Ms. Perky is one reason that romance novels, as a genre, are often preceded by the word “trashy.”

I admit that when I was a beginner writer, I had a tendency to want to describe my hero and heroine with overdone description.  I wince now when I read some of my early writings.  It seems to be a natural tendency for beginner writers, especially of romance, to want to use purple prose.  Maybe they’re trying to be creative in describing their hero and heroine in terms not used before.  Maybe they’re just trying to portray their protagonists in glowing terms.  Whatever the reason or temptation, avoid purple prose.

In upcoming posts I’ll give you some tips on using description.

~~Jaye