Craft Glossary · term

Purple prose / overwriting

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Plain English: Prose so ornate it draws attention to itself and away from the story — straining metaphors, lyricism with no occasion, every noun chaperoned by an adjective.

Rule: Earn your lyrical moments by surrounding them with plainness; let ordinary moments be plainly written. Contrast is what makes the lyrical beat land.

Fail: Gravitas inflation — making every moment sound profound, so nothing can be plain (see Gravitas / evenness). Purple prose and AI "elevated" register are the same disease: relentless significance.

Arjuna Badger Press · Craft Library

Glossary · Doctrine · Anti-patterns · Triptych form · LLM tells

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