Support for Indie Authors discussion

The main characters in my books are a race of aquatic, sentient beings from the ice moon, Europa. In my books, I use various made-up alien words such as quanish, quanundocii, bettiwon and so forth. Some of the reviews I'm getting mention the fact that there are misspelled words in the book. I've had them edited, so I as assuming the reviewers are referring to these alien words. I am wondering if I should go back and put these words in italic so the reader knows they are not a misspelled word. How are other sci-fi authors handling their use of alien words?

I think using italics for non-English words like you're talking about is definitely a huge help. I see glossaries as well from some authors. Put a glossary at the end that defines your alien words so people can better connect with those words and the story.

I always put those words in italic myself. So the readers know not to search on the internet for the definition or the spelling. :P

Or include a glossary in the back, and note it in the manuscript. Lots of authors use this method as well.

Put them in italics and use a glossary.

I recently used the word glorbiklyne (or something) in reference to a fuel source on an alien planet. I made sure that I said "a tank of glorbiklyne fuel" the first time so that readers knew what it was. So, when i referenced a glorbiklyne bomb or reactor,the meaning was clear.

P.R. wrote: "Some of the reviews I'm getting mention the fact that there are misspelled words in the book. I've had them edited, so I as assuming the reviewers are referring to these alien words..."

Sometimes even the best edited books can still have a misspelling or two.

But, if you are right and the reviewers are mistaken, personally I wouldn't put the effort into "fixing" what others see as a problem.

This also holds true for fantasy words. If you have a Mystical Arvanaka Amulet, then people might not know what that is if you just say it is the Arvanaka.

It strikes me as odd than anyone would mark something so obviously alien as quanundocii as a spelling mistake. It isn't like quanundocio is a kind of fabric softener.

Perhaps it is more in the context. If the word is used first in a way that explains it, perhaps it is less likely to cause confusion.

So I agree with Chad. A glorbiklyne bomb makes sense if you know about the fuel source before hand. Walking to the store and buying yourself some Skittles and a glorbiklyne will cause people to stop reading and wonder what that could possibly be.

(Italics couldn't hurt either!)

I always put "alien" words in italics. Generally, if you put a real foreign word in your English text, it seems to be common practice to put it in italics.

As I said before, I put those in italics and later on if someone says a sentence in another language, instead of writing it, I write it in English but in Italics so people can see the difference. (Meaning, if someone around doesn't speak the language they shouldn't understand, yet it's nice to let the readers in by not jamming full conversation in a language they can't understand.)

What POV is the story in? If it is an alien POV don't do anything. That is what I do. It is their story, why would the words be in italics?

Sarah wrote: "What POV is the story in? If it is an alien POV don't do anything. That is what I do. It is their story, why would the words be in italics?"

I agree if for example a book is written about Klurghessts living on the planet Klurghsss and everyone speaks Klurghs, don't use italics.

Sarah wrote: "What POV is the story in? If it is an alien POV don't do anything. That is what I do. It is their story, why would the words be in italics?"

I would go along with this line of thinking, and I'd take it further and ask how familiar is the word to the POV character, regardless of whether it's alien or not?

If it's a word that is alien, unfamiliar, and especially if you're only going to use it once or twice in the story, then italics would maybe be a good idea.

However, if it's going to be used a lot in your story then rather than highlighting the alienness with italics I suggest making it part of the reader's lexicon. First time it pops up, find a way to introduce its meaning, preferably without dumping a dictionary definition into the narrative. Subsequent times, drop in subtle reminders here and there to keep the reader clued in until it becomes familiar.

Ian wrote: "Sarah wrote: "What POV is the story in? If it is an alien POV don't do anything. That is what I do. It is their story, why would the words be in italics?"

I would go along with this line of thinki..."

Completely agree. If the word is core or used consistently, then it is going to become familiar. Maybe try finding a way to (tactfully) explain it in the first few drops then just use it as any other word.

Might be that your reviewers are using the search feature on thier kindles - and wiki is taking a guess at the word.

My view ( with earth languages: dutch, german, english) is that italicising foreign words is unnecessary.

In a third person (free indirect) narrative, about a Dutch boy and German girl, I chuck foriegn words in willy nilly.

So the city of Cologne is Keulen for the Dutch boy and Köln for the German girl. I don't ever call it Cologne in the narrative.

I figure readers will do the wiki, definition, translate trick if they want.

One day I might get a review - the author used two different spellings for the same city. Silly author. Silly.

I think the folks above have pretty well covered this and I agree with most of what's been said. If the story is of the Europan people and told from their perspective, then no, italics wouldn't be needed, but a little context might not hurt. You don't even have to explain too much. Think in Smurf: the Smurfs would substitute just about any noun, verb, or adjective with the word Smurf and somehow, we still understand: I'm gonna smurf that Smurf who put his smurfy paws on Smurfette last smurf!

Now, if your protagonist is a middle aged man from Arkansas who happens to have crazy aquatic aliens from Europa crash land in his back yard, you might want to italicize their wacky words and maybe even give a pronunciation hint. (Example: I have a planet called Korghetia. I had my earthling MC say "core geisha" and have the alien correct the pronunciation in a way that makes the audience understand my intention.)

Now, bear in mind that there will probably be sci-fi purists who will complain and list fifty reasons why Europa can't host life. Kindly thumb your nose at those people. ;)

In all honesty, I use google translate and modify words from other languages. And I include the words in dialogue, so it's easier to take out of cobtext, and just treat it as I would any other word.

Riley wrote: "In all honesty, I use google translate and modify words from other languages. And I include the words in dialogue, so it's easier to take out of cobtext, and just treat it as I would any other word."

I like that idea. I remember as a kid getting the map from The Hobbit and the atlas - and trying to find where middle earth was!

I use a glossary, and I don't pull any punches. If my readers can't do the work to figure out that the weirdo words are alien words in a sci-fi setting, then they're just not going to understand my books. Lol

As others have also said, I use italics to make alien words stand out. I don't use a glossary but I try and make it obvious how the word is used so the reader can figure it out. For example, if the same word is used every time a character answers the phone, then obviously that's a greeting. I also try to find a way to work the definition of a word into dialogue so that it sounds like part of a conversation, rather than just stopping to provide a definition.

Perhaps the glossary could be at the front, or linked to the word itself? I recently read a story set in a Polish inspired fantasy world, where everyone had very Slavic names; the heroine's name was particularly complex. The author had put a pronunciation guide at the back, which many readers missed - I lost count of the number of snotty comments about the character's "unpronounceable" name, despite it being a relatively normal Polish name.

Rachael wrote: "Perhaps the glossary could be at the front, or linked to the word itself? I recently read a story set in a Polish inspired fantasy world, where everyone had very Slavic names; the heroine's name wa..."

I was reading a comic the other day with footnotes - which was quite a good idea. Beyond me for ebook formatting though...

Yeah, italics and a glossary as others have suggested.

I'm currently writing vampires but am avoiding making up their language (it would be a little elvish). So I'm ducking out and saying 'they spoke in their own language, but it's translated into English here'. (*clucking chicken noises*)

But in previous novels I've used some Italian and Russian phrases.
I put those into italics and wormed in translations after.

And maybe have another check through just to make sure the reviewers don't mean actual spelling mistakes. They are cheeky little things which hide even from the best editors.

T.L. wrote: "Yeah, italics and a glossary as others have suggested.

I'm currently writing vampires but am avoiding making up their language (it would be a little elvish). So I'm ducking out and saying 'they sp..."

Wouldn't a handful of well chosen Romanian phrases work for vampires?

I have a German character and employ Mutter and Vater for mother and father.

Thanks Jamie,

But nope, they're not Western Block vamps.
No occurrences of "I vont to suck yooouur blaard, blah blah blah" ;-p

And I'm far too lazy/simple to construct an elvish type of language.
If you ever read my book when it's released it'll all become clear.

Elvish isn't really the best descriptor either, but if I say more it'll give my secret away.
Maybe hieroglyphs would be closer? No way that's getting into eBook format though.
No, I'm saying too much now!! ;-P

Way back up in Message 13, Ian said: If it's a word that is alien, unfamiliar, and especially if you're only going to use it once or twice in the story, then italics would maybe be a good idea.

However, if it's going to be used a lot in your story then rather than highlighting the alienness with italics I suggest making it part of the reader's lexicon.

I believe Ian has the right approach. If you can embed your word in the narrative so well that your reader just slides past every instance, then go for it.

However, alien, very foreign words, or even archaic English words just tend to boot the reader right out of a story. You may think that these words add "authenticity," but when your readers stop every three paragraphs to look something up, they lose their immersion and may just DNF.

Deploy your unusual words with deliberation and caution, and then only when needed. Pity your readers.

(Disclaimer: I am personally guilty of multiple violations of the above advice. Thank you Search-'n-Replace.)

T.L. wrote: "[T]hey're not Western Block vamps.
No occurrences of "I vont to suck yooouur blaard, blah blah blah" ..."

Speaking for my alter ego, McCabria Darque, "We do not say blah blah blah!"

Tee hee; I presume you've watched Hotel Transylvania?
I love that movie, blah blah blah! :-O

T.L. wrote: "Tee hee; I presume you've watched Hotel Transylvania?
I love that movie, blah blah blah! :-O"

I loved I and II both.

I would say use a glossary