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Topic : What exactly is wrong with 'It was a dark and stormy night'? Possible Duplicate: Why is “It was a dark and stormy night..” not a good opening? The phrase in question is derided - selfpublishingguru.com

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Why is “It was a dark and stormy night..” not a good opening?

The phrase in question is derided everywhere. Wikipedia calls it infamous and purple prose, the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest references it (google 'worst opening sentence'), but I've always been puzzled as to just what exactly is wrong with it.

Purple prose on Wikipedia is prose that is so "extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw attention to itself". I don't think the sentence really qualifies on any of those three grounds.

It was used in Snoopy a fair bit, and I originally thought it was either from the cartoon, or because of the cartoon, but it seems to have been the source of derision since it first written, so I remain confused.

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It's cliche and camp. You said it yourself; it shows up in Peanuts. If you were to say "It was a dark and..." most English speakers would finish your sentence. That is why it holds little currency among readers, while I do agree that it's not so overwrought as to be considered purple prose. I can't, however, find any criticisms of the opening line originating at the time of Paul Clifford's publication that would suggest that it was scoffed at by then contemporary readers.

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