tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023937099212820339.post5451450103620599727..comments2024-03-27T01:07:03.944-04:00Comments on The Roses of Prose: Hyperbole and Purple Prose by Betsy AshtonAlison Hendersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12725250883303287946noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023937099212820339.post-48841987824201384562016-09-19T15:04:48.645-04:002016-09-19T15:04:48.645-04:00A good editor is worth her/his weight in gold. A c...A good editor is worth her/his weight in gold. A cliche, maybe. I would never self-publish my work without an editor's input. I can't stand reading anything with basic grammar errors. One or two, okay. They slipped past the proofreader. But when I encounter the ones you mentioned, Betsy, my teeth hurt from gritting. I agree, Jannine, the Classics are hard to read, mainly because of the lengthy paragraphs of descriptions. Diane Burtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03754105332297068271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023937099212820339.post-55650993867085706802016-09-17T12:57:16.141-04:002016-09-17T12:57:16.141-04:00Back when I used to have time to read, I'd ski...Back when I used to have time to read, I'd skim long, drawn-out descriptions. If I found more than a couple in the first paragraph, I quit reading the book. I think Classics are hard to read simply for that reason. Too much purple prose to keep our attention. I remember having to read Spamela, uh I mean Pamela by Samuel Richardson in college. A perfect example, and I could barely stomach it.Jannine Gallanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01047728297429025804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023937099212820339.post-39677775024824034032016-09-17T11:04:36.990-04:002016-09-17T11:04:36.990-04:00I opened a book on my Kindle the other night. Imag...I opened a book on my Kindle the other night. Imagine my shock to find two people's dialogue in one paragraph. I stopped. Reread and thought, oh dear...what a formatting error. I read on. No. It was the writer's stupidity. She had no clue each person's words deserved his/her own paragraph. There were other issues and once I got over the feeling of fingernails over the chalkboard, I deleted the book from my device. <br /><br />I do love a good turn of the phrase, a different way of saying something or using a word in an unusual way--making a verb out of a noun, for example. Perhaps that's why I enjoy good poets. The visual they can create with so few words. I think that's our job as prose writers, to give the biggest bang with the least, most powerful words. Vonnie Davis ~ Romance Authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07360480832587538895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023937099212820339.post-29186422455521909552016-09-17T10:19:15.360-04:002016-09-17T10:19:15.360-04:00For more than three years I wrote a weekly column ...For more than three years I wrote a weekly column about local writers for my newspaper, and (as you can probably imagine), your author is not alone. One of our editors got into a pickle with a friend who'd self-pubbed a book. Since this person's job is writing in a PR office, she figured it would be decent and promised him a review (for the paper) Wrong. Within a few pages she knew an editor (or proofreader) hadn't touched it. Since it was going in the paper, and she is a journalist, she had to be unbiased and ding the book where it deserving dinging. She also praised where she thought praise was due. She tried her best to be fair. The last I heard, the author stopped speaking to her. I did an entire series about self-pubbing and devoted a whole section to the need for professional editing. People don't care. They think because they CAN easily publish a book, they should. I got calls every week from people certain they had "a bestseller" ready to go. It was hard to not laugh...or cry. (On the other hand, how many people probably thought the same of 50 Shades...?)Leah St. Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11004006100786260893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023937099212820339.post-73431182662345225922016-09-17T10:18:24.737-04:002016-09-17T10:18:24.737-04:00Besty, you are describing a by-product of self-pub...Besty, you are describing a by-product of self-publishing...we have the freedom to produce books that might not have seen the light day...as well as the freedom to produce books that should not have their day in the sunshine. We tell people to write the books of their heart, but those stories may not be readable...and the person writing it may not have a clue how to write crisp copy. The more we write (and get soundly critiqued) the better we write (we hope). I've looked back at some of my early writings that no agent or publisher picked up. NOW I know why...back then, I didn't get picked up. Sometimes I worry my prose has become TOO spare...too dry, as I try to be modern. I put hyperbole in a closet...and I miss it sometimes.Rolynn Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09504770204968969467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9023937099212820339.post-48934648205062143172016-09-17T08:52:13.147-04:002016-09-17T08:52:13.147-04:00Oh my goodness, yes, Yes, YES!!! (tongue firmly lo...Oh my goodness, yes, Yes, YES!!! (tongue firmly lodged in cheek there ;-) A favorite editor of mine once asked me, as a favor, to read and provide a review for a book she just simply did Not Have Time To Get To! (TIC again) While I initially raised my hand with enthusiasm in a virtual sense, I did some major forehead to desk banging once I started to read. Wrote the most diplomatic review of my life! Your experience points up what some 'authors' consider promo. Glad you steered him in the right direction - ie away from you. Congrats on the paper edition release.Margo Hoornstrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00036077481652050799noreply@blogger.com