‘Here and there in the leafy glade of her letters a ripe berry of information gleams.’
When was the last time you saw a Key Performance Indicator that grabbed or inspired you? Since one aim of WritingRedux is to liven up language, why not start with a standard management tool often deployed with language of tepid drabness?
This beautiful quotation inspired me to create some lively, memorable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the website, with writing that aspires to feel like a leafy glade to the reader, bursting with ripe berries of information. Since you are supposed to make KPIs quantifiable if possible, let’s aim for hectares of leafy glades rich in biodiversity, and bushels of those gleaming berries. Other KPIs could include:
- Keen Penetrating Intelligence – if not my own, at least that of the writers I feature.
- Keep Providing Inspiration – sharing with you a few decades’ worth of written gems.
- Kind and Polite Interaction – demonstrating to this or that Presidential fight that discourse is possible without lobbing brickbats.
- Key-Pounding Intensity – creating a decent flow of content, with quality at least matching quantity.
- Keep Punters Interested – ensuring you find enough enjoyment to … KEEP POPPING IN
For other Key Penmanship Indicators see the following inspired by quotations of Henry Williamson, Harold Bloom and Adam Nicolson’s kind reaction to this website.
See also the bestellar review of this luminous book, complete with a mosaic of quotations and metaphors.
Source: Molly Peacock, The Paper Garden (London: Bloomsbury, 2012 (2010)), p. 320
Photo credit: jill111 at pixabay.com
Dear Beatrice, at long last a website/blog I’m really looking forward to reading!
What a great idea.
I had to look up the word “glade” by the way, and this is what Merriam Webster said:
“We know that glade has been with us since at least the early 1500s, though the word’s origins remain a bit of a mystery. Glade, which originally was often used not just to indicate a clearing in the woods but one which was also filled with sunlight, may come from the adjective glad. In Middle English, glad also meant “shining,” a meaning that goes back to the word’s Old English ancestor, glæd. Glæd is akin to Old High German glat (“shining, smooth”) and Old Norse glathr (“sunny”). It may also be a relative of Old English geolu, the ancestor of the modern English word yellow.”
Interesting that in Dutch the word “gloed” is still very much in use (meaning: with a shine, shining), as well as the word “geel” (meaning yellow).
Isn’t language a wonderful thing.
I wish you all the best, and look forward to your writings!
Thank you, Conny, for adding another shining layer of meaning to this lovely English, Norse, Old High German and Dutch word… And for being the first reader to leave a comment. I am sure I should give you a prize for that. All best, Beatrice