languages
FOR WRITERS/READERS: Cursing in Other Worlds
FOR WRITERS/READERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Meraki P. Lyhne: Both writers and readers can join in here. Cussing in the future or in Fantasy worlds. What would readers find belivable? Like do they even consider that many derive from Christianity? Which wouldn’t be belivable in a world without the religion. And in the future? How original should the author be to make a belivable change to vocabulary? This is a legacy topic – one that we’ve discussed before, but thought was good enough to bring around again. Join the chat
Worldbuilding Week Day One: Languages
Welcome to the second annual Worldbuilding Week at QSF. We’ll talk about all aspects of building a world for your story, including languages; alien/magical races; history and timelines; culture and politics; sex, marriage and reproduction; and tools and techniques. It should be a lot of fun. Today we’re talking about languages, and Loren Rhoads will be our moderator. Here’s Loren’s take: One of the things I love about the Star Wars universe is the diversity of species in the background characters. Unfortunately, beyond Chewbacca, Admiral Ackbar, and Nien Nunb, few aliens who are good guys speak. When I wrote my … Read more
Discussion: Using Foreign Words
Today’s discussion topic comes from QSFer Alison Mann: Lexicon / unusual / foreign words. How much is too much? Is a glossary really all that useful in ebooks considering the reader can’t just flip to the back like they can with a paperback? How important is it to get words right for the time period/region? How can you check usage? etc These are some great questions, especially for me at the moment, considering that I’m knee deep in second draft on my NaNo novel, and my Glossary for my fantasy/sci fi story is just about to hit 100 words. But … Read more
WORLDBUILDING WEEK: Day One – Languages
Welcome to the first annual Worldbuilding Week at QSF. We’ll talk about all aspects of building a world for your story, including languages; alien/magical races; history and timelines; culture and politics; sex, marriage and reproduction; and tools and techniques. It should be a lot of fun. Today we’re talking about languages, and Erica Pike will be our moderator. Have you ever created a language for a story? How do you go about building the fundamentals? Are there tools online to help? Does your language offer clues to your culture? And how do you make it work for your readers? Join … Read more
Writing in Your Own Tongue
Some very successful fantasy novels have flirted with inventing their own language or languages – among them the Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien was a professional philologist and Old English specialist) and George R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. But many writers just use a few choice words in their new lingua, to give their stories a bit of High Fantasy flavor. To be sure, a new language isn’t an absolute necessity in Fantasy – it really depends on the story you are telling. But it can add a bit of flair and flavor to your work, setting it apart … Read more