# Glossary of Terms



## Ankari (Aug 24, 2012)

Every book I read tends to have a Glossary of Terms which includes a listing of characters, places, and factions.  Do you feel this is an "easy out" or a necessary tool for books that contain a vast amount of characters, nations, races, etc?  

Would you rather read:

"The giant ogier rubbed his chin in thought."  Knowing you could always go to the Glossary of Terms to get a brief description of what an ogier is, or

"The giant ogier, hailing from the swamps of Netti, rubbed his chin in thought."

I know you can always do the second with a glossary.  The reason behind the question is based on the number of races and nations I introduce into my story.  To start describing each race, the nations the hail from, and their exact attitude towards other races feels a bit cumbersome.  Especially when introducing a new character.  

"Tomas stared at an ocean of his peers while he collected his thoughts."

vs

"Tomas stared at an ocean of his peers of the realm of Entias while he collected his thoughts."

Opinions?


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## shangrila (Aug 24, 2012)

Glossary or no, if you've already stated that the ogier are from the swamps of Netti you don't really have to say it again.


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## Ankari (Aug 24, 2012)

shangrila said:


> Glossary or no, if you've already stated that the ogier are from the swamps of Netti you don't really have to say it again.



I understand this.  I should have used a better question.

Do you prefer the usage of Glossary of Terms with less infodumping in the story or would you rather have the infodumping in the story without a Glossary of Terms?


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## ThinkerX (Aug 24, 2012)

Ankari-

With an epic as long and as complex as you have underway, you are not looking at merely a glossary, but chronologies and possibly geneologies as well.


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## Shockley (Aug 24, 2012)

That's purely up to you. It would also depend on how important the things are - if you say 'the swamp buzzed with ndegvc' you might have to describe 'ndegvc' if they come up regularly. On the other hand, they might just be a nice scene dressing and you might as well let the reader imagine them.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Aug 24, 2012)

I would suggest that in fantasy fiction, a glossary should be something an astute reader can completely ignore; it should only be there for reference, if there's a lot of complicated names or concepts or nations.

When you introduce something in your story, you should explain it (as far as is needed) within the context of the story. This doesn't mean an infodump; you can introduce a new term and slowly reveal details that explain what it is over the course of the entire rest of the book, if necessary.

You used "ogier" as a term (I'm assuming you're not talking about the race from the Wheel of Time). So whatever they are, the first time one is shown, how it's described depends on whose POV we're seeing it with. If it's from the POV of someone who doesn't know what an ogier is and has never seen one before, the description will be different than if it's from the POV of someone who's very familiar with ogier.

A glossary is useful when there's a lot going on, but I would never ever recommend relegating the basic description of something to a glossary.


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## Lawfire (Aug 25, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> I would suggest that in fantasy fiction, a glossary should be something an astute reader can completely ignore; it should only be there for reference, if there's a lot of complicated names or concepts or nations.



Hear, hear. 

Nice to have, but not required.


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## shangrila (Aug 26, 2012)

Ankari said:


> I understand this.  I should have used a better question.
> 
> Do you prefer the usage of Glossary of Terms with less infodumping in the story or would you rather have the infodumping in the story without a Glossary of Terms?


Well, to be honest, I'd rather no infodumps at all. But I don't think you need a glossary of terms or an infodump to get across what you want.

I'll use the Malazan series as an example. Even considering the scope of that story I only found myself checking the glossary occasionally, usually to remind myself who some obscure character was that Erikson name-dropped (and especially in the later books where there's around 80 or so named marines, who only make up a small fraction of an entire army anyway). Aside from that, I didn't find much use for it. Even with strange names for the different types of magic (warrens like Denul, for healing) you can usually figure out what it does even if you can't remember what the name means.

I guess, to answer your question directly, I'd rather a glossary. But at the same time, if I have to keep flicking to the back of the book to know who's who or what's what, I'm quickly going to put the book down. The best thing to do, in my opinion, would be to probably write the story as if you weren't including a glossary, then throw it in at the end to help the people that might get a little confused.


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## JadedSidhe (Aug 26, 2012)

I agree with what the others have said, its good to have as a reference, but it shouldn't be required in order to understand the who's, what's, where's, and whens.

If you do one, here's something to consider: Add pronunciations. 

Nothing annoys me more than books with long and/or complicated names and places. I'd be more inclined to just use Hog for Ehognanggalar.


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## Kit (Aug 26, 2012)

JadedSidhe said:


> If you do one, here's something to consider: Add pronunciations.
> 
> Nothing annoys me more than books with long and/or complicated names and places. I'd be more inclined to just use Hog for Ehognanggalar.



I figure that whether I include pronunciation instructions ot not, most readers are going to mentally say a name the way it looks. I look at it and think "How would I guess this to be pronounced?" and if I don't like the way that sounds, I change the spelling until I do.


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## Philip Overby (Aug 26, 2012)

Yeah, I agree with Kit about pronunciation.  I could never say "Cersei" in my head the way it was supposed to be.  

As far as glossaries, I usually don't use them until after I've finished reading a book.  I'm the type of reader I don't really need explanations about everything.  I certainly don't need infodumps.  I rather the author just take me on the journey and I'll just go with it.  If I'm slightly confused but the writing is good (as is the case for Erikson for me) then I can go with it without worrying who is from where and what their histories are.


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## Kit (Aug 26, 2012)

I  figure that if I include a glossary, I can please everyone. Those who don't want/need it have the option to ignore it.


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## Steerpike (Aug 26, 2012)

I'm pretty much the same as Phil. I don't use glossaries even if I find that something is unclear (whether it is a place, identity, or what have you). I don't care if they are there, but I personally don't find them to be important.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Aug 26, 2012)

Actually the main value I get out of glossaries is if they also contain pronunciation guides for strange words. I hate it when I'm discussing a fantasy novel with someone and we pronounce the main character's name in totally different ways.


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## FireBird (Aug 26, 2012)

If I find that I must use a glossery in a book then that writer failed. I should not have to go and look up a name of a minor character in a book. Sure they can be nice to have if you take long breaks between reading and want a little refresher, but if you read a book cover to cover you should never get to a point where you need to use a glossery. I haven't once looked at the list of houses in ASoIaF yet.


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## Lorna (Aug 26, 2012)

If I find a strange term, I tend to go with it, assuming it will be explained later on. I would expect to find that information in the text at some point but it wouldn't bother me if an author passed over the explanation the first time not to spoil the action. 

I like reading glossaries because they reveal things about the world building that I don't pick up from the plot. I often find it's only when I come to the glossaries how well thought through the worlds are and come to appreciate other authors' world building processes. Weiss and Hickman's _Death Gate Cycle_ and Constantine's _Wraeththu_ books have cool glossaries.


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## BWFoster78 (Aug 27, 2012)

Do you really want your reader to:

1. Be reading a scene in your book
2. Come across an unfamiliar character/word
3. Stop reading to look something up in a glossary
4. Return to the scene?

When I write, I want to provide the least number of distractions possible.  I want the reader to struggle to put down my book, which is why I try to end chapters with hooks.  Having the expectation that the reader will stop in mid scene is terrible, IMO.  

On the other hand, I also hate: the ogier, from some made up swamp, did this.  Just call it the ogier and work in backstory later.  Just as you reveal character through their actions, reveal the creature through its actions.  If it helps little old ladies across the road, we'll know its the good guy.  If it eats babies for breakfast, we'll understand that its not good.


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## SeverinR (Aug 27, 2012)

I have read books that I used a glossary for.
I have read books that provided a glossary but I never refered to it.
I have read books that I could have used a reference page to remember who's who.

If in doubt, create one, I use a reference sheet for my characters, easy enough if the publisher requests one.
I use technical terms and real names of equipment that some people might not know. If the reader doesn't know what it is and wants to, they can look it up. So the real glossary might only need to be your worlds special terms or creations.

Books that need a score card to keep the players straight are a tough read.


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