Archive for January, 2008
Great blogging quote
Kevin Day, January 12th, 2008From Jeff Atwood, Thirteen Blog Clichés:
It’s always been deeply disappointing to me that we have the whole of human history to talk about, and most people can’t get past what happened today.
Asimov’s animated adjectives and adverbs
Kevin Day, January 6th, 2008I’ve noticed that I typically don’t use vivid words when describing things or events. My speech and writing are dry and tend to be strictly factual. It’s probably because that’s how most of my communication is expected to be.
While reading “I, Robot,” I was impressed with the way that Asimov combines provocative descriptions along with technical information, like this:
It was in the last room, the one nearest the nose, that the monotony broke. A curving window of non-reflecting glass was the first break in the universal metal, and below it was a single large dial, with a single motionless needle hard against the zero mark.
Or this:
The alarm system raised its fearful clangor with a horrifying suddenness. Lanning clicked on communications with an almost paralytic spasm. The breathless words froze him.
At work I would get weird looks if I said ”the single motionless needle was hard against the zero mark” instead of “the gage read zero.” Nonetheless, I am going to make an effort to be more descriptive when I get a chance.
Here’s a first attempt. The weather was pretty good today in Clevleand. Perhaps Asimov would describe it this way:
The sun heroically burst through the cloudy sky to rescue the tired city from its cold icy captor.
