Avoiding Purple Prose: Tips for Clear Writing

I like the colour purple – you may notice quite a bit of it on this website and across my social media! – but when it comes to writing, I’m not a fan of “purple prose”. What is it and why should you avoid it in your next novel?

What is Purple Prose?

When writing, it’s easy to slip into flowery, lyrical, over-extended beautiful phrases, descriptive paragraphs and ornate language, full of metaphor, simile, adjectives and adverbs.

While these long, flowing descriptions may seem literary, they can actually be distracting and frustrating for the reader.

If the writing is drawing too much attention to itself, writing for writing’s sake, then you’re likely looking at Purple Prose!

The Problem with Purple Prose

When writing is this flowery, it slows down the pace of your storytelling, leaving the reader wondering what is happening. Text that doesn’t move the story on can distract the reader from the story. It stops them thinking about your characters and, instead, means they focus on your language.

Spending so long on description, showing off your language skills, can also leave the reader confused. Who was speaking? Which character was in this scene? Where were they going?

Purple prose also has the potential to cause grammatical issues and errors in the text. With long, flowing passages, the danger for run on sentences and comma splices increases!

Think of your reader

So if you want to avoid some of the issues of purple prose, think of your reader! Here are some tips for your writing clearer, cleaner prose.

It’s your voice

Write in the voice you feel most confident in. If your language includes some description, that’s not a problem, but try to avoid trying to write in the way you think a writer should! Use your own, strong, unique voice to tell the story.

Move the plot forward

Stop! Think! Is this moving the story forward or is this just writing? If, by the end of the paragraph, the reader hasn’t learnt anything new about the story or a character, it might be a sign to remove it!

Don’t send your reader to the dictionary

If you’re using language that requires your reader to constantly look up words in the dictionary, you’re going to be pulling them out of the story. Why not use simpler, everyday language to tell your story?

How I can help

Both developmental editing and copyediting can help you find any purple prose in your writing and can help you find ways of rewording and avoiding any distractions for the reader. Want to know more? getGet in Touch or get a free sample edit!