by Anthony Megna

Created on: June 17, 2009   Last Updated: May 23, 2011

Great writers not only have insight, they put the effort in their work that makes their results so good! Insight and effort go hand in hand. Without insight guiding a writer through the sometimes difficult business of writing, how could anything of value be written? Okay, maybe if someone is compiling a grocery list, but great writing that really communicates? Don't think so.

Harnessing insight for a writer is like getting the maximum amount of speed out of a race car for a professional driver. Without a deep understanding of the subject coupled with pure insight, a writer is just spinning the wheels of wordsmithing. Great writing equals great insight.

An example of a great writer, whether one has read him or not, is Isaac Asimov. Astoundingly prolific, Isaac Asimov has written and published thousands of articles and books over his celebrated lifetime. Most of his subjects have dealt with science, and hard science at that. He has written tons of non-fiction, as well as fiction and most in the unwieldy vein of science. But as far as communicating some of the most difficult areas of science such as astronomy, biology, and computer science, it seems there aren't much better at reaching the layperson than him. He always made his subjects real, fascinating, and easier to understand.

Talk about mastering insight with tough subjects! How does one make interesting a subject such as internal temperatures of distant stars? Without great use of analogies and personal insight, this is a tall order indeed. How about making robots appear human? Read his inventive book I, Robot. The movie doesn't do justice to the book.

Isaac Asimov is one of many great writers to have captured insight and made it work for him. If he were to rely on lists and statistics, especially dealing with difficult subjects, not too many people would know his name. Pick up his tomes on the planets in our solar system, and even though somewhat dated, some of his ideas are absolutely riveting. For instance, there are two moons orbiting Mars, Phobos and Deimos. Phobos is the larger of the two, yet Deimos is just as interesting according to Asimov as it's larger brother. In one of his works he sets out to wonder how the two moons would look like from the surface of Mars. Granted, this is not the most awe-inspiring thing in the universe, but it goes to show his love of our solar system and the uniqueness of it.

Whether reading science fact or science fiction, both of which he handled with masterful aplomb, one cannot but appreciate his deep love of the subjects and his logical, clear and concise knowledge of them. His work is just one example of how insight glows under the handling of a genius. He will be missed...

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