Hi all,
So, I will be the first to admit I love me some purple prose. Sometimes I can't help but write it. It worms it's way in during drafts, and I cut the fat when I make revisions. However.
I feel like a lot of writers have forgotten that playing with language exists, that writing is an art and making things sound interesting is part of our jobs. Putting words together that shouldn't work. Making keeping language fresh to read page to page
I posted something to Reddit for critique (my mistake, I know) and I was told that the prose was far too purple. The examples provided were:
"The door to our bedchambers clicked shut with a precarious finality."
And
"In an ironic twist of fate."
Which I suppose might be fair, but at the same time, flowery language is what makes my writing feel like mine, y'know? They did also "suppose" that the piece got better in the later half.
I suppose what I'm asking is, does all prose need to be written in such a literal sense? Can prose be a little purple if grounding details follow? Can Redditors give critique without being snarky about it? Or am I a little delusional for thinking this way?
So, I will be the first to admit I love me some purple prose. Sometimes I can't help but write it. It worms it's way in during drafts, and I cut the fat when I make revisions. However.
I feel like a lot of writers have forgotten that playing with language exists, that writing is an art and making things sound interesting is part of our jobs. Putting words together that shouldn't work. Making keeping language fresh to read page to page
I posted something to Reddit for critique (my mistake, I know) and I was told that the prose was far too purple. The examples provided were:
"The door to our bedchambers clicked shut with a precarious finality."
And
"In an ironic twist of fate."
Which I suppose might be fair, but at the same time, flowery language is what makes my writing feel like mine, y'know? They did also "suppose" that the piece got better in the later half.
I suppose what I'm asking is, does all prose need to be written in such a literal sense? Can prose be a little purple if grounding details follow? Can Redditors give critique without being snarky about it? Or am I a little delusional for thinking this way?
