Ichor, plural weaponry, and place names.
Now I feel like I'm making a real commitment. Not only am I sticking with this draft (whereas previously I would have opened and named a new file and begun writing again from the beginning, using the old file as reference, I am heavily editing the same file,) but I am creating a definite dictionary instead of ignoring the red underlines. Yes, I am making things... canon.
Cue the dramatic music and the villainous creature in heavily-overdone makeup.
Ichor is something I'm stuck on. Ursula LeGuin is the problematic thing with this. Ichor is a word, not included in OpenOffice's dictionary, that is broadly used in fantasy fiction. Anne McCaffrey has used it in several novels to refer to blood of aliens or other species which are greatly unlike terrestrial species. It is a widely used term... but LeGuin had the she-balls to refer to it (and I quote) as "the infallible touchstone of the seventh-rate." So... in my world, magic constructs bleed. They bleed physicalized magical energy. This, indisputably, is not true blood. Ichor is a real word. It is, however, a word that refers to bile or other unhealthy bodily discharge, such as from a boil or tumor. It has no relation to blood of any type except in fantasy usage. And it has been called "The infallible touchstone of the seventh-rate." Fuck it, I'm using it. And despite her opinions, I doubt it's just for the seventh rate... because it's been in a lot of really awesome books. So fuck LeGuin's opinion, this time anyway. No, it's cliche. Damnit. Cliche is bad, very bad! No, bad, no! No second guessing...
Pluralized weapons. The whipstaff is a major weapon on Riesaen. So, what is the plural form to be? Whipstaffs follows the proper modern english pluralization. Whipstaves is the conventional fantasy way to spell things. My proofreader tells me whipstaves is much more appealing. I like whipstaffs because it doesn't turn anything into an -aves ending from an -aff ending, and it's the proper form. Agonizing. Also, whipstaves makes me think of barrels. They fight with metal poles, not barrel components. Damnit, I'll go with whipstaves for now and I can do a Replace All later if I change my mind.
Place names are a pain in the ass, I've been google searching every place name I come up with to name sure I'm not stealing it from another author. I try to derive them from dead languages, just like my character names, but I'm petrified that one will match up with a preexisting proper noun from another world. According to my sources, I could have a mess on my hands if I publish and they do. This might be blown out of proportion. Should I just check that with my publisher? Most likely. Do I have one yet? Nope. Why am I worrying about legalities? I shouldn't be at this point. Damn you, Ward!
Urg, I'm behind in the writing. I need to finish my custom dictionary. Is "compoundly" a real adverb? I think so, but I'm not sure. Fuck!
Cue the dramatic music and the villainous creature in heavily-overdone makeup.
Ichor is something I'm stuck on. Ursula LeGuin is the problematic thing with this. Ichor is a word, not included in OpenOffice's dictionary, that is broadly used in fantasy fiction. Anne McCaffrey has used it in several novels to refer to blood of aliens or other species which are greatly unlike terrestrial species. It is a widely used term... but LeGuin had the she-balls to refer to it (and I quote) as "the infallible touchstone of the seventh-rate." So... in my world, magic constructs bleed. They bleed physicalized magical energy. This, indisputably, is not true blood. Ichor is a real word. It is, however, a word that refers to bile or other unhealthy bodily discharge, such as from a boil or tumor. It has no relation to blood of any type except in fantasy usage. And it has been called "The infallible touchstone of the seventh-rate." Fuck it, I'm using it. And despite her opinions, I doubt it's just for the seventh rate... because it's been in a lot of really awesome books. So fuck LeGuin's opinion, this time anyway. No, it's cliche. Damnit. Cliche is bad, very bad! No, bad, no! No second guessing...
Pluralized weapons. The whipstaff is a major weapon on Riesaen. So, what is the plural form to be? Whipstaffs follows the proper modern english pluralization. Whipstaves is the conventional fantasy way to spell things. My proofreader tells me whipstaves is much more appealing. I like whipstaffs because it doesn't turn anything into an -aves ending from an -aff ending, and it's the proper form. Agonizing. Also, whipstaves makes me think of barrels. They fight with metal poles, not barrel components. Damnit, I'll go with whipstaves for now and I can do a Replace All later if I change my mind.
Place names are a pain in the ass, I've been google searching every place name I come up with to name sure I'm not stealing it from another author. I try to derive them from dead languages, just like my character names, but I'm petrified that one will match up with a preexisting proper noun from another world. According to my sources, I could have a mess on my hands if I publish and they do. This might be blown out of proportion. Should I just check that with my publisher? Most likely. Do I have one yet? Nope. Why am I worrying about legalities? I shouldn't be at this point. Damn you, Ward!
Urg, I'm behind in the writing. I need to finish my custom dictionary. Is "compoundly" a real adverb? I think so, but I'm not sure. Fuck!