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Purple prose is overly elaborate language used in written prose, first recorded in 1590. It occurs when too many adjectives, metaphors, and similes are used. Writers should avoid it, but it can be addressed during editing. Raymond Carver’s editor removed nearly half of his stories.
Purple prose occurs when a writer decides to use overly whimsical or elaborate language in his or her writing. The term comes from Horace’s review of Piso’s work in his “Ars Poetica” in 18 BC Horace used a Latin word similar to purpura: purpureus, meaning “dazzling” or “gorgeous.” The use of purple prose is first recorded in 1590 in English. The term may also be called a “purple spot” or a “purple passage.”
The lack of a term for the poem, “purple verse” implies that no poem can be too whimsical. The term applies only to written prose. Prose is used in most writings, from letters to articles, novels to magazines. They are joined sentences about a particular theme or story. Purple prose is applied to the descriptive elements of these documents that are over the top.
Avoiding purple prose is one of many pieces of advice given to new writers, however, many published writers are guilty of overindulgence. Almost everything by David Eddings can be described as such, including: “They breakfasted on fruits unknown to man, then reclined at ease on the soft grass while the birds sang to them from the boughs of the sacred grove.” Another example is the first line of Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s “Paul Clifford” written in 1830: “It was a dark and stormy night…” and the sentence continues for another 50 words.
Purple prose tends to occur when too many adjectives are used, or there are too many images, metaphors, and similes in a description. Stephen King, in his “On Writing”, would also advocate reducing adverbs to zero. This does not mean that the dense description is necessarily purple in nature; Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” series is full of descriptions, but they are largely dense rather than whimsical.
For example, a minimalist like Ryunosuke Akutagawa would say, “There is a cat on the table.” Other writers might point out that the cat is ginger and the table is wooden. A Robert Jordan-style “overwriter” can provide a full description of the cat’s large ears and small head, as well as the provenance and style of the table. The purple prose writer will compare the cat to a Buddhist monk in golden robes sitting on the bank of a river meditating on lilies.
Writers may avoid writing purple prose in the first instance, but the first draft is best written in whatever style suits that writer. The best time to check and address purple steps is while editing. At such times, the Buddhist ginger cat monk may be reduced to an ordinary cat waiting to be fed. Writers who aren’t sure what’s purple and what isn’t tend to ask trusted friends and publishers for help. Raymond Carver, known for minimalist writing, would have nearly half of any story removed by his editor, Gordon Lish.
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