This work is a morphologic study on the issue of lexical productivity and production in literary texts. Its main goal is to support the hypothesis that literary works present special conditions for the use of morphological formation patterns.Our investigation is based on the novel The Colonel and the Werewolf by Jose Candido de Carvalho, a work which is known for its lexical innovations. The suffixes –ão and –oso, as well as the prefix des- were chosen for our analysis, as they are the preferred morphological elements for lexical innovation in Carvalhos s work. Our results suggest that the use of these morphological patterns in the work is not fortuitous; in fact, they seem to iconically represent the hyperbolic discourse of the main character of the novel. We initially present an overview of lexical morphology, which includes both traditional approaches and recent contributions; the main focus will be on the productivity/production issue. Then, we approach the description of the suffixes –ão and –oso and the prefix desin Portuguese. Next, the lexical constructions with these elements occurring in the book The Colonel and the Werewolf are analyzed. We conclude showing that the author uses morphological patterns to reinforce the discourse of the main character of the novel. This analysis shows the relevance of the study of production conditions, in addition to productivity, for a deeper understanding of the lexicon in Brazilian Portuguese.