Purple Prose
or
Never Read Penny Arcade Before Blogging
I should take my own advice. It was innocent, I swear. I’d intended to write up a simple post about the work I was putting into the new layout on FanaticSpace. One detour to Penny Arcade later and you have prose so purple that it speeds past the visible spectrum and becomes ultra-violet.
Please don’t misunderstand, it was intentional. I’d decided to try my hand at the sort of ornamental rambling that is done so well on PA. Looking back I suppose that’s like saying “That thar Louis tha XIV furniture sore is purdy, I think I’ll make some. Hey, what’s a xiv?”, after which there is the unfortunate, yet inevitable, incident with a table saw. It takes practice to learn the skills required to craft something of that caliber.
It was fun though. Because of the joy I derived from trying to intentionally write something flowery enough to compare to the Tycho Brahe Botanical Word Garden, I’d like to ask you to try it too. The idea is easy enough. Take a simple post, one that could be done in about a paragraph, and try to stretch it out by using inordinately descriptive language. If you’re unsure of how to go about it, just read a few posts at Penny Arcade.
A lot of the blogs on the art of blogging, the meta-blogs, advise people to keep things simple. Short bits of text and easy to understand word choices. This is the opposite. Stretch your mind and your vocabulary and go crazy.
I’m sure you’ll have as much fun as I did.
If you decide to do this please leave a ping, a trackback or a comment here. I’d love to see the posts.
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Purple Prose or Never Read Penny Arcade Before Blogging…
Beware Penny Arcade! It can ruin your blogging and your blog.
Read one example of how Penny Arcade caused me to go against the advice of all the major blogging gurus. The same thing can happen to you.
Just kiddin’. Penny Arcade got me to try somethi…
A little style digression can be fun and can give your whole style a booster shot.
I tried a fun post here (weblog.biznz.net/2008/04/02/a-major-difficulty) and quite apart from the personal lift I got, I am getting quite a few search engine hits on it too - a most unexpected bonus.
Good post Rhys. I can completely relate to the situation. Even the smallest thing at the right, or wrong, moment can mess up your entire day.
Thanks for sharing.