![]() Writing Pro Tips: 1# Purple Prose does not only mean overly eloquent writing, it also means useless writing. If someone tells you to avoid purple prose by avoiding a thesaurus or by not using long words then he is an idiot, and you should stop reading his guide. It all comes done to this question -- is this sentence necessary or is it not? I couldn't give two craps if you spent a paragraph talking about literally nothing, eloquent words or not. 2# A "Said Bookism" is the use of words such as "declared", "muttered", "barked" and the like in lieu of the simple yet wonderful "said" tag. Like a wise man once said, "There is a time and place for everything". Don't EVER think that using words in place of a said tag automatically improves your writing, because it doesn't. If you want to spice up a sentence with a dramatic said bookism, then do so. But remember, the best form of dialogue attribution is said, as in he said, she said, Bob said, Aerith said. Name: Vaughn Mark Position: Editor, writer, miniature equine enthusiast. Location: New England Likes: Chocolate Dislikes: Mary Sues |