A Dwarf is a Dwarf or not of course (but really in truly he is of course)....

[CavalierElrik]

I recently received some excellent feedback on a manuscript I have been writing for almost 6 years on and off. Amongst some of the excellent suggestions was one from an editor who's opinion I truly respect and hope to be working with soon, but I am having trouble implementing one of their primary suggestions.
They suggested losing all mention of Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Paladins, etc. because they have "been done to death" and are just "fancy names for otherwise normally human races". I don't necessarily agree with this for my particular piece, but here is where I am struggling:

I'm aiming for a high-fantasy epic that is a blend between Tolkien-esque mythology and George R.R. Martin-like storylines (minus the excessive vulgarity, obscenity, and rape...) with some esoteric Christian myth thrown in.
To call another race something other than an 'Elf' for example, just so your not calling it an 'Elf' seems contrived to me. It seems like the reader is basically being told "this is an Elf, but in my world they are not called 'Elves', even though they are, and look and act just like the ones from every other fantasy story you've probably read where they are in fact, simply called....Elves."

If its an Elf, call it an Elf! If its short and stocky and bearded and lives in a mine, why is it wrong to call it what it is? If its a dwarf, why does it need another name when in reality, in the Fantasy genre, it is essentially the same thing?
Yes, we've all seen them a million times. But then, is it wrong to assume we wouldn't probably be reading (or writing) Fantasy if we didn't love those Fantasy 'staples' anyways?

Is this just a suggestion for manuscript marketing? Trying to do something that hasn't been done just so you can say you are? It seems that within the fantasy genre, it might, to some degree, be accepted that these races can all exist, thus saving the reader the trouble of having to figure out what this particular authors Orcs look like vs. another....Is this a Wraith, or a Fade? Is this an Elf, or a Fey? Is this an Orc, or a....whatever.
Or am I completely wrong here, and they should in fact, all be called something totally different?

Again, this is from an editor who's opinion I truly respect and hope to be working with soon, but Im struggling with this one point.

 

[Saigonnus]

Can humans play the parts assigned to elves, dwarves etc??


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[skip.knox]

Are your dwarves just humans in disguise? Or are they truly a different culture?

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

I personally am not fond of elves and dwarves, but if something is an elf or dwarf, call it that. If you have a race called Fghbyllghrrwzz but it's exactly the same as a dwarf, there's no point in calling it something different.

Renaming traditional fantasy races doesn't make them more original. If you are in a position to do so, ditch the advice. If not, try coming up with your own races. But, I feel like that won't work, since your book is mythology based...

 

[WooHooMan]

Is this just a suggestion for manuscript marketing? Trying to do something that hasn't been done just so you can say you are?

I think that nowadays among fantasy writers, this is called "normal behavior". Contrarianism is the norm, ironically.

 

[Penpilot]

IMHO for any decently read fantasy reader, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's a friggen duck. If you call it a dweezle, I'll call you a liar and throw the book across the room.

If the only reason for the change is to make it seem different, then I'd ditch the advice.

But Skip brings up a good point in asking are your elves, dwarves, etc., distinct enough from each other and from humans? If so I refer you back to what I said above.

 

[CavalierElrik]

IMHO for any decently read fantasy reader, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's a friggen duck. If you call it a dweezle, I'll call you a liar and throw the book across the room.

If the only reason for the change is to make it seem different, then I'd ditch the advice.

But Skip brings up a good point in asking are your elves, dwarves, etc., distinct enough from each other and from humans? If so I refer you back to what I said above.

Huge thanks everyone.
I can't agree with Penpilot more, it just kept nagging at me that this indeed walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, but is also, so different in race, habit, position within the storyline, customs, language, and even geography from your stereotypical "human in fancy dress" that to change names seemed "forced."

 

[Richard P Titus]

There's a story about the knights of the Round Table being assigned quests. Each knight set out on different paths as each quest was a personal adventure and challenge. No two paths were identical. Each person had unique paths that lead to their particular quest.

This could be applied to your question.

Elves? Dwarves? These are concepts others have contrived. Do you want to follow the concepts or quest of another? Of course, it's your choice. The learning and growing from the endeavor, however, comes by you taking a unique path. How does it serve you to take a path made by someone else? It's up to you.

Have fun.