VIGNETTES

What was the only thing to do after a few manic months at work, a stressful house move, and a bout of flu? Head to Greece for a week, of course! Or the island of Santorini to be more precise. An October visit meant the scorching summer heat had passed and we were left with the perfect warm weather for sightseeing, plus the occasional laze on the beach. Below are a few of my art-related highlights:

Atlantis Books

The northwest coastal town of Oia is a labyrinth of passages lined with shops selling all sorts of goodies, such as jewellery, handmade fabrics, vintage clothing, pottery and paintings. Topping the list of tourist haunts is Atlantis Books, a cave-like independent bookstore usually found on lists of the best bookshops in the world. I could have spent hours browsing the packed shelves, though it was perhaps a good job my time was limited - I managed to spend a small fortune on pocket-sized versions of The Little Prince and some poem anthologies. Each book is stamped upon purchase, so every time I take a peak inside, I am reminded of this very special place!

Oia architecture

Away from Oia’s packed side streets, towards the caldera edge of the town, the buildings become so white and spotless, they seem to glow under the rays of the sun. This aesthetic quality is perhaps what Santorini is most famous for and leads to Insta-perfect pictures, no filters required. The occasional blue dome or accent, such as in the image above, creates a gorgeous contrast and adds an element of patriotism, with a subtle nod to the Greek flag.

Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral

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My last post about creating your own fictional language got some pretty positive feedback so I went to work on this one as soon as I could! And BOY is it a LONG ONE! Thanks to everyone who read the last one and wanted more! <3

So first: Formatting. I recommend using italics any time you include non-English words in an otherwise English piece of work. That goes for fictional and real languages. You’ll see some examples a little further down. 

I’d also like to remind everyone reading this that nobody else knows your fictional language so your job is to teach your readers how to understand and accept it as part of the world. How do you do that? Repetition, restraint, not-awkward translations, and seamless integration. 

Repetition: Use the same few words or sentences over and over in your books where they feel natural so readers will start to remember what they mean. 

Restraint: You can definitely have too much of a good thing. I don’t recommend having a full dialogue between characters be carried out in a fictional language or an entire paragraph. Use your language sparingly. Too much information too quickly can be overwhelming for a reader.

Translations and Integration: When using a fictional language in a story there’s a lot of ways you can approach translating and integrating it. It’s easier to just show you how I usually do it so here goes:

Option 1

With this option, we have the full sentence in Wey (the name of my language) in italics. Cadence, not knowing Wey, tells the voice she doesn’t understand and so it’s forced to say it again in English. 

Option 2

This is probably the most obvious way to throw in a translation. It’s right in the same line of dialogue. The only issue with this is that it can come off a little stilted. There aren’t a lot of instances in real-world speech where people would speak in one language and then repeat themselves in another immediately afterwards without prompting. 

Option 3

***This option should only ever be used when all the other characters in the scene speak the same language and can understand what they’re saying.*** This gives you an out so you don’t have to actually write out a full sentence in your fictional language but it tells the readers that the character speaking is doing so in something other than English.

Option 4

This is the other way to go about the whole “using your fictional language but not really” route. If the other characters in the scene don’t understand the language you can express the language like the above example. I also recommend using descriptors for how they’re speaking to better convey the message. Even if a character doesn’t understand the words, they would probably be able to tell that they’re being said with anger, joy, or fear. 

There’s also ways to throw in some fictional words in otherwise English sentences, like if you’re insulting someone or greeting them. You don’t have to provide a proper translation if it’s obvious in context.

Aaaaaand that’s all I’ve got for you, folks! Well, I could probably write about this all day but I think I should probably end it here because this post is just way too long as it is. If anyone else has any other tips, feel free to let me know! 

site for when you can only remember part of a word/its definition 

site that gives you words that rhyme with a word

It can be hard to remember how to properly address your noble or royal characters when writing a fantasy court. Here is a quick guide:

1. King/Queen:

Usually addressed as either “Your Grace” or “Your Majesty”. Consort (married to a ruler and not reigning in their own right) can be addressed the same. Sire or Madam can be used also.

2. Prince/Princess:

They are addressed as “Your Highness”. They are NEVER addressed the same as a King or Queen

3. Duke/Duchess:

These are addressed with “Your Grace”. This was a common term also used by royalty before Henry VIII got to big for his codpiece.

4. Earl (Count)/Countess:

Are almost never referred as the “Earl of Narnia” but “Lord Narnia”.

5. Lord/Lady:

An easy one. They are called “My Lord” or “My Lady”.

6. Emperor/Empress:

These may be equal to a King/Queen for status but the have a grander title. They are only addressed as “Your Imperial Highness/Majesty”

It can be hard to remember how to properly address your noble or royal characters when writing a fantasy court. Here is a quick guide:

1. King/Queen:

Usually addressed as either “Your Grace” or “Your Majesty”. Consort (married to a ruler and not reigning in their own right) can be addressed the same. Sire or Madam can be used also.

2. Prince/Princess:

They are addressed as “Your Highness”. They are NEVER addressed the same as a King or Queen

3. Duke/Duchess:

These are addressed with “Your Grace”. This was a common term also used by royalty before Henry VIII got to big for his codpiece.

4. Earl (Count)/Countess:

Are almost never referred as the “Earl of Narnia” but “Lord Narnia”.

5. Lord/Lady:

An easy one. They are called “My Lord” or “My Lady”.

6. Emperor/Empress:

These may be equal to a King/Queen for status but the have a grander title. They are only addressed as “Your Imperial Highness/Majesty”

Like “cool cool we’ve got this perfect hero now to just sprinkle on some Irritability and Trust Issues then microwave for 6 minutes on high until Done”

But I’ve personally found it feels a lot more useful to just… think of the flaws as the Good Traits except bad this time

The protagonist is loyal? Maybe that means they have a hard time recognizing toxic relationships and are easily manipulated by those they want to trust

The hero is compassionate? Maybe they work too hard and overextend themselves trying to help people and then they refuse to ask for help when they need it themselves for fear of burdening others

They’re dedicated to their ideals? Maybe they’re also too stubborn to know when to quit and they have trouble apologizing for their mistakes

If they’re creative, they can also be flighty. If they’re confident, they can be arrogant. If they’re brave, they might be reckless. If they’re smart, they could be condescending. Protective can become controlling, and someone who’s carefree could very well also be emotionally distant

Schmid Schärer Architekten - Family house in Müseliweg, Zurich 2016. Photos © Roman Keller.

Dialogue: either you’re great at it, or it’s your worse nightmare. Writing dialogue can be difficult, confusing, and frustrating. Here are some tips to clear the air when it comes to dialogue!

DON’T overuse dialogue tags

From the very beginning, writers are often told not to overuse “said”.  While this is sound advice, it can create the false notion that “said” is never to be used.  This simply isn’t true!

Stay away from repeating creative dialogue tags one after another, especially if it’s redundant.  For example, if there’s an exclamation point after a sentence, you don’t need to say that the character exclaimed or yelled.

Often, a dialogue tag isn’t even needed.  Just end the dialogue without a tag.

DO use “said”

Repeat after me: IT IS OKAY TO USE “SAID”!

I’m guilty of this one as well.  The urge to not use “said” too often becomes a habit of never using it and replacing it with unnecessary dialogue tags.

Just use said!  It will make your writing seem far more mature than if you used something like “growled” or “stated”.

DON’T go on tangents

Dialogue should be realistic.  If you have a character that is known for going off on tangents, then by all means do so.  If you’re going on a tangent to seem “artistic”, you might want to cut it off there.

My biggest pet peeve with modern young adult literature is that writers try to combing their need to prove they can write beautiful prose with dialogue.  Don’t.  In the end, it’s just unrealistic and a cheap way of trying to show your talent.  Leave the long-winded metaphors for your narration, please.

DO use unique speech

Everyone speaks differently.  This could mean accents, slang, catchphrases, or misused words.  Include this in your dialogue!

Colorful dialogue creates colorful characters, and allows the reader to be able to easily distinguish who is speaking (without dialogue tags!).

DON’T overuse phonetics

Though accents can be a great way to create colorful dialogue, phonetically spelling every word according to the character’s accent can get annoying fast.  Stick to spelling out the most important words.  After a while, the reader should be able to read that character’s dialogue with their accent in mind anyway.

DO show, not tell

Every writer has received this advice at one point or another, but with good reason.  Dialogue is the best way to put “show, don’t tell” into practice.  However, writers often think that dialogue itself counts as showing.  Though dialogue is a better tool than description in these instances, it doesn’t completely serve as a way to show on its own.

Telling: “Hey, calm down.  You look nervous.”

Showing: “Hey, calm down.  You haven’t stopped tapping your foot since we got here.”

DON’T repeat names too often

I too fall into the trap of constantly clarifying who is speaking.  When you’re writing, it feels natural to say things like “’How are you doing, Jim?’ ‘I’m doing well, Pam.’”, but the reality is that no one speaks like that, especially to people they’re close to.