I hate "fantasy words"

[BiggusBeardus]

OK, I'm writing fantasy. I want to name some things with some "unique" words. I come up with a word. I google that word to make sure it doesn't mean penis or butt hole in some other language. Nearly every word I try that is remotely able to be pronounced by a human comes up in a google search! I just tried "Tohr-nil" and "Tohr-ni" and they both had things pop up. Heaven forbid I try to name a character and not have it show up on google. But I refuse to string a bunch of consonants together and have a bunch of words that no one can say. I know some people try to make their own languages and such, but as a reader, I don't want a bunch of weird words when I'm trying to read and enjoy a story. That's why I try to avoid made up words for my stories. Every now and then I want to come up with a unique word for something, but it seems friggin impossible!

How do you come up with your made up words for your world/stories? Do you google them to see if they are already words? If they do show up on google, how do you proceed?

 

[BiggusBeardus]

Even words from an online generator come up as something or a person's name! UGGGGHHHH!

 

[Rexenm]

I use the fantasy name generator. I came up with an idea from it. There was a drug that alleviated pain, and kingdoms stopped working in favour of anarchy. It was eventually usurped - but for centuries they had a female dominated world, based on precepts that made sense to them. There were other denizens, but it was NOT so heterosexual; more hedonistic.

The way they got rid of it was funny. A father fought his son all the way to the top, and his forgiving him in a speech allayed the ships on their shores. The names were spinning around in my head, and I came to a stillness in my mind. They still had a problem with lies, but they mostly kept to themselves.

I just tried "Tohr-nil" and "Tohr-ni" and they both had things pop up.

That’s the problem with random and default words. You wield a language; and as smart as you are is things always remind you of something. It is a force of habit.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

We hate 'fantasy' words, but in another way. Our approach to names is that if a stranger can't both sound out and retain a name/word accurately, it's not a good one. Having lived through the 'Holy Fantasy Names, Batman!' phase in the 90's where even today my wife calls one character 'Tylenol' because that's the closest we could get to how to say it.

We use a combination of collected names (I have a boatload on file) and name generators. It helps that my wife was a Linguistics major for a few years. We keep names short and easy, and when we can't we have nicknames (Lanadrielle becomes Lana). Name generators are awesome, but we don't want to just take them at face value. We fiddle. We nudge. And when we like what we have, we give it the green light.

You may notice that I never said we look up generated names for meaning. There are 311 languages spoken in the United States alone. No matter what you type into the search frame, you're going to find similar words with maybe even derogatory meanings. It's the nature of the beast. The human mouth only makes so many sounds. So, we don't. It's not useful and it's not an efficient use of time that could be better spent on plotting books and making pages.

In other words, don't fuss about it. It's eating time better spent. Go with your common sense.

 

[Aldarion]

How do you come up with your made up words for your world/stories? Do you google them to see if they are already words? If they do show up on google, how do you proceed?

I use actual historical languages and mostly only use made-up names of places. Note that this means using real-life language to create a name for a made-up concept. For example, not many places in real life were named after the undead or zombies because they weren't a thing in real world - but they are a thing in my world, so you have places whose name originates from something like "Shore of the Walking Dead". And this automatically means they will be somewhat unique simply due to their nature, despite being named in actual Latin.

 

[Graybles]

There are some interesting books you can read up on:

"The Art of Language Invention" by David J. Peterson might be interesting.
Also "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows" by John Koenig gives a nice look into word creation.

Overall speak the words out loud sometimes something looks good on paper but it just hits the ear wrong, or the complete opposite. In the end it doesn't matter what it looks or sounds like as long as you can make people believe it's at home in your fantasy world.

 

[Rexenm]

I had to pause for thought over the idea of learning new languages as if they were foreign to the tongue; it just rings wrong.

Overall speak the words out loud sometimes; something looks good on paper but it just hits the ear wrong - or the complete opposite.

I had to collect myself with your grammar; so convicted I edited it.

and welcome, graybels

 

[Finchbearer]

I go with the real world culture or cultures I am inspired by and look at real world language to modify or utilise. Dead languages are also my go to for words, or origins of words, looking at the etymology of a word I want to use is also useful. Going into some of these fantasy name generators are probably a alright starting point but I wouldn’t personally rely on them.

I like Brandon Sanderson’s way of naming things, like his ‘skaa’ in mistborn - it’s a super easy word to remember and also to pronounce.

I on the other hand like to make things difficult for my readers

 

[Mad Swede]

I don't make up words or even names. I don't see the need, there's enough real world possibilities out there already to give my setting some depth. I'm not sure it matters to the readers either, I think that the quality of writing, the way they are drawn into the story, matters more.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I had to pause for thought over the idea of learning new languages as if they were foreign to the tongue; it just rings wrong.


I had to collect myself with your grammar; so convicted I edited it.

and welcome, graybels

Glass houses and all that. But you've certainly convinced the rest of us to be on the prowl for grammar, not to mention giving a fine example of why we don't correct each other's spelling and punctuation. It's impolite. What is permissible and polite is to simply ask if a phrase or word can be reworked due to a clarity issue on your part.

This is a good example of when to use that. I'm looking at this sentence and I can't parse it with 'convicted' in there, but I'm also unsure if 'convinced' is the word you were shooting for. Thoughts from the peanut gallery?

 

[Graybles]

Glass houses and all that. But you've certainly convinced the rest of us to be on the prowl for grammar, not to mention giving a fine example of why we don't correct each other's spelling and punctuation. It's impolite. What is permissible and polite is to simply ask if a phrase or word can be reworked due to a clarity issue on your part.

Don't worry to much, I'm not a native English speaker and I know my punctuation is garbo... That is why I don't bother with it until I hit the editing stages in my writing.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Don't worry to much, I'm not a native English speaker and I know my punctuation is garbo... That is why I don't bother with it until I hit the editing stages in my writing.

Which is nothing to be concerned about. We have a lot of writers here who speak a cradle language that isn't some form of English, and their mastery of the language is usually better than mine. Personally, I've come to the conclusion after writing for a while, now, that if someone can make themselves understood they win English for the day. I don't correct spelling or grammar unless specifically asked, mostly because I think it's rude and condescending.

 

[Rexenm]

I‘m sorry I’m ignorant. I listen to what other people say, I really do.

 

[Aldarion]

Glass houses and all that. But you've certainly convinced the rest of us to be on the prowl for grammar, not to mention giving a fine example of why we don't correct each other's spelling and punctuation. It's impolite. What is permissible and polite is to simply ask if a phrase or word can be reworked due to a clarity issue on your part.

This is a good example of when to use that. I'm looking at this sentence and I can't parse it with 'convicted' in there, but I'm also unsure if 'convinced' is the word you were shooting for. Thoughts from the peanut gallery?

Honestly? If it is done politely, I don't see why not correct the writing. It can only help - I never get insulted when somebody corrects my writing, because I know I make mistakes (most often, forgetting the articles...).

 

[Gallio]

A good trick is to use compounds. They can be used for both things and people, e.g. Le Guin's wintercrop, Tolkien's Elfstone, Orwell's doublethink, and Clarke's Frederick Littleworth (a very minor character, but you know everything you need to know about him immediately). Oh, and Lucas;s lightsabre.

 

[Devor]

I tend to come up with a naming scheme for each type of thing that I'm naming. Almost all the natural features have a fantasy name followed by the English word Forest, or Marshes, and so on. For instance, geographic locations include the Harune River and the Goltbed Mountains. All of the cities are fantasy names that include the syllable "Trin," like Dubtrin or Trinbry. Fairy places usually have the name of a tree in them, like Blackhollow Thorn (from blackthorn). The goal is to still use lots of fantasy words while offering enough context cues for readers who don't want to have everything memorized.

 

[skip.knox]

Come up with a word and stick with it. Where is the problem?

Yes, your word will come up in a search, or some close cousin will. Don' worry 'boudit. The story is more important than the word. Get the thing writtten. Give it to your editor (or your beta readers).

If someone yelps about the word, then you can consider modifications.

The one exception is for that peculiar flavor of madness that is conlang. If you're going to invent a whole new language, first be a linguist. If you cannot be a linguist, learn to avoid linguists. Inventing languages is a monumental task.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I've had readers ask how the hell I do my names and how I make them feel so different, as the story spans several cultures, and I have no answer. I know some creatives who just can't do names, others just do. Brains are funny things.

One rule: I don't look up anything. I don't care. If I like the way it sounds in my head and how it looks on paper, I run with it.

 

[Miles Lacey]

I ētahi wā he ngahau kē atu te whakamahi i tētahi reo torutoru e mōhio ana ngā tāngata mō te whakaingoa i ngā mea. E noho ana ahau i tētahi wāhi e kiia nei ko Otaihanga. I whānau ahau i tētahi wāhi e kiia nei ko Porirua. Ka taea ēnei wāhi te hanga katoa, ā, ko te nuinga o ngā tāngata i runga i ēnei wānanga ehara i te mea he mātauranga nā te mea he torutoru noa iho ngā tāngata e mōhio ana ki te reo Māori, te noho rānei i te Moana nui ā Kiwa ki te Tonga.

(Sometimes it's much more fun to use a language few people know for naming things. I live in a place called Otaihanga. I was born in a place called Porirua. These places could be completely made up and most of the people on these forums would be none the wiser because very few people know the Maori language or live in the South Pacific.)

 

[Demesnedenoir]

In a similar vein, I once read an article by a Big Name author who kind of put down fantasy names and the "unpronouncable" name in respect to one writer's question about a name they were using. I blinked and thought to myself: that fantasy name is easier to pronounce than a whole lot of names of people I know!

Maori looks beautiful. Love it.

I ētahi wā he ngahau kē atu te whakamahi i tētahi reo torutoru e mōhio ana ngā tāngata mō te whakaingoa i ngā mea. E noho ana ahau i tētahi wāhi e kiia nei ko Otaihanga. I whānau ahau i tētahi wāhi e kiia nei ko Porirua. Ka taea ēnei wāhi te hanga katoa, ā, ko te nuinga o ngā tāngata i runga i ēnei wānanga ehara i te mea he mātauranga nā te mea he torutoru noa iho ngā tāngata e mōhio ana ki te reo Māori, te noho rānei i te Moana nui ā Kiwa ki te Tonga.

(Sometimes it's much more fun to use a language few people know for naming things. I live in a place called Otaihanga. I was born in a place called Porirua. These places could be completely made up and most of the people on these forums would be none the wiser because very few people know the Maori language or live in the South Pacific.)