Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Harry Potter and the Evil Adverbs

MJ Ryan — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:33:11 EST

The release of the title of the seventh and final installment to the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, must have been depressing to many people. First, there are the fanatics who are desolate to see their beloved series coming to an end, a few of whom have begun lighting candles for our favorite boy wizard. The word "deathly" doesn't bode well for Harry's longevity. Next, there are the non-fans who are gearing up for the inevitable onslaught of Harry Potter mania. With the release of the Order of the Phoenix movie in July and the book sometime next year (I'm guessing Halloween 2007 based on book seven's title and the importance of Halloween in the books), the world will be treated to all-Harry-all-the-time whether we like it or not. Of course, the-glass-is-half-full-non-fans will see this announcement as a beacon of hope, a light at the end of the "let's market Harry Potter to death" tunnel.Then there are those for whom the word "deathly" was cringe-inducing for a different reason - the readers who thought Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was in dire need of a strong editing hand. "Deathly" is an adverb. In the title of the book. How lazy can you get?You may think it's rather rich to accuse a woman who hasn't a qualm about publishing an 870-page children's book of being lazy (whether it is a children's book or not is a debate for another day). But, everything I've ever read or been taught is that to use adverbs in writing is lazy. There is always a better way to say it without using the pesky little buggers. Since her books are peppered with adverbs, it appears that Rowling never read On Writing by Stephen King (at the very least) or that her editors never bothered to mention how adverbs are the spawn of all evil. Opening Order of the Phoenix to a random page I counted six, excluding adverbs in dialogue. Let's say she averages five per page, at 870 pages long, that's 4300 adverbs in Order of the Phoenix alone. Dear me. That's 10 pages of adverbs. What's the big deal, you ask? In the larger scheme of things does it matter if Rowling uses an adverb to describe every line of dialogue? (That's only a slight exaggeration, by the way.) Of course not. The better question is, would her story be lacking if she deleted the adverbs? No, it wouldn't. Rowling does a wonderful job of setting the mood, of building tension in a conversation, of painting a picture. She doesn't need the adverbs. She doesn't need to tell us that Aunt Petunia said something "snidely" to Harry or that Mrs. Weasley said something "anxiously" as she was looking for others on a busy train platform. We know enough about the characters she's created and the scenes that she's set that we get it. In fact if you think about it, using adverbs is rather insulting. It's as if Rowling doesn't think her readers are bright enough to catch the subtleties she's written. You're also not giving yourself enough credit, Ms. Rowling. You don't need those nasty adverbs. See compliments above.Ms. Rowling, I have a challenge for you while you're still in the editing stage of book seven. Take a highlighter and mark those adverbs up. Get rid of them. Release yourself, and your readers, from "Adverb Hell." That cramp you get from excessive highlighting will go away in a day or so, I promise. Oh sure, you can keep a few here and there, let's say two per chapter as long as they aren't used to describe dialogue. There are a plethora of other ways to describe speech than to saddle it with adverbs.But, before you do anything at all, get that adverb out of the title. I even have a suggestion: Harry Potter and the Hallows of Death. Look at that. No adverb and the meaning is the same. It has quite a ring to it if I do say so myself. But, better yet, I feel the doom. Now, about that word death...

A suburban, married mother of two whose most frequently uttered phrase is, "Would you please listen to me?" As a result, she pontificates online about whatever interests her at the moment. She still has no idea if anyone is listening but she feels better getting it off her chest.

Blogcritics Author: MJ Ryan

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Harry Potter and the Evil Adverbs