Humor Monday Update - 10/20/2008

There are a number of books that I read and re-read. Some I read because when I read them, I want to write like that. Others I read because when I read them, I learn the way to write like that is to write like "this".

One such book is Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose by Constance Hale.

Ms. Hale was an editor at Wired Magazine and an author of Wired Style (no, not the author of the weird Magenta on Orange web-layout of Wired, but the hip, savvy, humorous style of Wired writing).

Sin and Syntax divides each chapter into the Bones, Flesh and Cardinal Sins of writing.

When she writes of bones, the words pop out, like an image in an x-ray. Sometimes it is chilling. One of Ms. Hale's examples, are the nouns she highlights in a description by Jacabo Timerman of his cell in an Argentina prison. I have never seen nouns convey such suffering.

Next she puts flesh on bones. Again from the chapter on nouns, she shows us how to color our writing the way advertisers color their brand names, such as a laundry detergent named Tide, or a computer from Apple named Powerbook.

Then we have the sins.

The sins of nouns read like the Seven Deadly Sins.

Sloth

Words like: old hat, fast track, bottom line.

Gluttony

Using five words when one will do, such as ---- (pick up any corporate memo for an example).

Pretense

Ever read an academic paper? For an example, she uses this little diddy - "A perpetual dualism underlies the productive style of- (and on and on and on)"

But then Constance Hale turns everything on its head. In each of the chapters she cites wickedly funny ways of breaking all the rules. For instance, here is a press release that landed on the desk of an editor at Wired Magazine from Cyan, the makers of the video game Myst.

"Dear Mr. Frauenfelder,

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Cyan, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH! Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Cyan, blah, blah, blah, Myst, blah, blah, blah, The Manhole Masterpiece Edition, blah, blah, blah, The Cosmic Osmo, blah, blah, blah, The World Beyond the Mackerel, blah, blah.

The Manhole Masterpiece Edition blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Cyan, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH! Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Cyan, blah, blah, blah, Myst, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, The Cosmic Osmo, blah, blah, blah, The World Beyond the Mackerel, blah, blah.

Cosmic Osmo and The World Beyond the Mackerel, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Cyan, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH! Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Cyan, blah, blah, blah, Myst, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, The Cosmic Osmo, blah, blah, blah, The World Beyond the Mackerel, blah, blah.

Regards,

Rand Miller and Robin Miller

Founders

P.S. Blah, blah, blah, blah"

Sin and Syntax is a great read, but best of all, it is a great re-read.

Today's Features:

Humor: No Robots for President by Tim Patrick.

Who is the candidate who listens to an IPod. Think about it.

Tired of the Same Old, Same Old? by Greg Schiller

A few thoughts on diversity.

Life is a Comedy by John Philipp

Today's Links: