Adjectives inflect or change in form to show comparison.  To give a simple description, one might say,   "Anne is tall."  (Positive form.)

If you wish to compare Anne's height with that of Mary, you would say, "Mary is taller than Anne."  (Comparative form.)

If you wish to compare the height of three persons, you might say, "Tom is tallest of the three."  (Superlative form.)

((HINT: The usual method of inflecting short adjectives is to form the comparative by adding

'er' to the positive.  To form the superlative, add 'est' to the positive.))

A few adjectives change completely when compared:

Some adjectives in their positive form express the superlative.

For example: perfect, dead, empty.  If something is perfect, or dead, or empty, it cannot be more perfect or more dead or more empty.  Although in the case of being perfect, if there are standards of perfection in which two things are flawed, one might say, 'this one is more perfect than that one'.  There are adjectives which should only be compared by adding the words 'more nearly', or 'most nearly'. 

Some of these are: Unique, immortal, eternal, supreme, universal and omnipotent.

ADVERBS:

Adverbs are compared just as adjectives are; however, most adverbs require 'more' and 'most' in forming the comparative and superlative.

CUT DOWN ON THE USE OF OMNIBUS (overworked) WORDS

that —   some —   now —  then —  nearly —  almost — as — over —just — only

(Most manuscripts can be improved immensely by deleting as many of the words listed above as possible.)

EXERCISE:

Take pages from something you've already written— 300 words or less — and delete as many of the omnibus words you find that you can do without.  (Show original sentences and the same sentences with the omnibus words deleted.)

WORD PICTURES AND CHARACTER DESCRIPTION:

It isn't enough to say your hero is tall, dark haired, wide shouldered and has sky blue eyes.  There must be a million men who answer to that description.  Nor is it enough to say your heroine has golden hair and lavender eyes beneath thick black lashes.

A memorable description is one in which the writer makes his/her characters individuals-- makes them stand out from all other characters.  One such description, from a master novelist, is Thomas Carlyle's description of Tennyson.

I think he must be under forty—one of the finest looking men in the world.  A great shock of rough, dusty-dark hair; bright, laughing , hazel eyes, massive aquiline face, most massive, yet most delicate; of sallow-brown complexion, almost Indian looking; clothes cynically loose, free-and -easy; smokes infinite tobacco.  His voice is musical-metallic—fit for loud laughter and piercing wail, and all that lies between.

((Bright eyes might be considered hard; notice he adds laughing to his description.))

Two of the three adjectives used to describe Tennyson's face seem contradictory; massive, aquiline, and delicate.  Massive and delicate are not often used together, but Carlyle insists that Tennyson's face was "most massive, yet most delicate."  Aquiline means like an eagle, and usually applies to a nose curved like the beak of an eagle.

((Anyone who reads such a description is not likely to quickly forget that character.))

From MAMSELLE, hero's description:

He came into view now, a tall, broad-shouldered,  muscled man, deeply bronzed from the sun.  His dark hair, thick and full-cut, framed a serious face, and evenly spaced features.  A square chin was softened by eyes that sparkled like the brilliant blue dew drops in her own land that watered the meadows.  He wore a plaid cotton shirt and snug-fitting dark pants that hugged his legs and disappeared into high black boots.

((Not a complete description but adequate for one paragraph.  More description is brought in as the story progresses.))

From FOR THE LOVE OF JASMINE: heroine's description:

She crouched, trembling, looking up at him, shivering with cold.  Her large greenish-brown eyes stared at him, dripping tears of horror down her cheeks. Her golden skin and unusual eyes showed him plainly she wasn't a full African. But her tightly curled hair, long and windblown, showed him just as plainly that she did have African blood, and the reddish-brown color of her hair made him think of autumn leaves curling in the sun.

Then he saw the metal tag attached to her ear like that of a damn branded animal, and a surge of pity coursed through him, painful in its intensity.

((Also, not complete but adequate for the paragraph.  More description is brought in as the story progresses.))

Words to remember:

Perceptible — Capable of being noticed or perceived.

Furtive — sly, secretive, stealthily.

INTERESTING FACT: Berengaria, Queen of England and wife of Richard the Lionhearted, never set foot in England.  She lived in Italy most of her life while her husband was off on his adventures and crusades.

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