"Magic" words in my story - use or imply???

[Lord Tezzy]

Moonfall Mask

SoulSalvage

I think it'd be best to only imply the magic words. Shouting spells and such has always been a turn off for me, so that's simply my opinion.

Won't implying them again and again get old quickly? That's my only problem with that course of action...

how about something along the lines of:
"In latin, she shouted, "Burn!" And suddenly a fire appeared."

Except more aesthetically pleasing. Becuase that just sounds terrible exactly like that (just make it better)

[Imperatrix Xoco]

Homurakitsune

Nini omé elúfi epo eyo-lu oto;

Awesome. ^_^
Ich sehe das du ein bisschen Deutsch können, ja? Kannst du andere Sprache?
And conlanging's not so bad. I love it actually. It's my favorite part of writing. ^_^

lu ni kamoo fa lo luhoa pu funa la.

I know that creating a language can be buckets of fun (I actually love doing it myself); I only want to make sure that the OP doesn't fall into the category of standard fantasy author. =| I mean, how many do you know who actually put thought behind the words rather than just putting down a gibberish word and saying, "O HAY THAT LOOKS COOL!! =DD". I call this the Paolini Complex. ;] Whether or not the OP belongs to this category, I have no idea.

Most of my teaching falls to Latin, mate. Seeing as the little German I know comes secondhand, I could barely understand what that said (something about my knowing a little German, right? And wondering what other languages I knew, I think.). Aliquantula Latina inquito. Facunde Latinam non inquito... Latina Una discuplae es.

[Moonfall Mask]

Imperatrix Xoco

Moonfall Mask

Argh...I'll likely be researching until the cows come home to memorize the Latin and/or Greek to that extent... sweatdrop

I'll make up my own language, how's that???

In all honesty, Latin is a hundred times easier to learn than English. There are just certain aspects of it that are not present in our language that really trip people up. =] If your school has a Latin program, or a local community college has one over the summer, it would be a good investment to take part in. Not only will it help with your story if you do decide to go the Latin route, but it is also a beautiful, interesting language to study.

You could also ask any Latin teachers that live near you for advice and perhaps to coach you on the side in Latin basics. Just some food for thought.

As for making up your own language, I would think that's more complex than picking up a dead language. O_O I mean, you have to take into account dialects, syntax, how other languages might have affected this one, parts of speech, conjugations, declensions, pronunciations, and a whole conglomerate of other details. If you want to pull a Tolkien and spend year upon year carefully crafting a language, then I say go for it. But if all you aim for is a Paolini move with a language whose vocabulary consists of whatever comes out when you bang your head against the keyboard, then don't make up your own. You could always shoot for a healthy medium, but I'm afraid that category is hair-thin and quite difficult to reach.

I dunno. Perhaps I'm letting my language geekiness get in the way with the whole "make up your own language" stuff. Personally, I would go with basing in Latin or Greek. That is so much more fascinating, since you can really delve in Roman or Greek history and show how your magic language became rooted in that society.

In the end, it's all up to you and how much effort you want to put forth.

Alright then...I'm going to go for Latin. That chapter will not come up for quite a while...that gives me plenty of time to research it. I'll use Backwards English as a placeholder if any spells come up. How's that???

Do you know any good website to research Latin???

@Ryiel: I'll try that also, thanks!

@Homura: I'll try that also. And you're welcome.

[Homurakitsune]

Imperatrix Xoco

I know that creating a language can be buckets of fun (I actually love doing it myself); I only want to make sure that the OP doesn't fall into the category of standard fantasy author. =| I mean, how many do you know who actually put thought behind the words rather than just putting down a gibberish word and saying, "O HAY THAT LOOKS COOL!! =DD". I call this the Paolini Complex. ;] Whether or not the OP belongs to this category, I have no idea.

Most of my teaching falls to Latin, mate. Seeing as the little German I know comes secondhand, I could barely understand what that said (something about my knowing a little German, right? And wondering what other languages I knew, I think.). Aliquantula Latina inquito. Facunde Latinam non inquito... Latina Una discuplae es.

Nini omé elúfi epo eyo-lu oto;

There's a whole guild of conlangers here on Gaia, actually. I have faith in people. If you're passionate about something, then you'll put thought into it. (At least that's what I'd hope.) OGODPAOLINI! He makes conlangers look like idiots! gonk
You were spot on about what the German said, actually. ^_^
But I don't speak(or read) a word of Latin, sorry. xD
What's your conlang called? How far have you gotten? =)
@Moonfall: No probs.

lu ni kamoo fa lo luhoa pu funa la.

[Moonfall Mask]

Imperatrix Xoco

Homurakitsune

Nini omé elúfi epo eyo-lu oto;

Awesome. ^_^
Ich sehe das du ein bisschen Deutsch können, ja? Kannst du andere Sprache?
And conlanging's not so bad. I love it actually. It's my favorite part of writing. ^_^

lu ni kamoo fa lo luhoa pu funa la.

I know that creating a language can be buckets of fun (I actually love doing it myself); I only want to make sure that the OP doesn't fall into the category of standard fantasy author. =| I mean, how many do you know who actually put thought behind the words rather than just putting down a gibberish word and saying, "O HAY THAT LOOKS COOL!! =DD". I call this the Paolini Complex. ;] Whether or not the OP belongs to this category, I have no idea.

Most of my teaching falls to Latin, mate. Seeing as the little German I know comes secondhand, I could barely understand what that said (something about my knowing a little German, right? And wondering what other languages I knew, I think.). Aliquantula Latina inquito. Facunde Latinam non inquito... Latina Una discuplae es.

I tend to put more thought into spells, but....I am guilty of doing that with names at times, except with actual words... redface

[Imperatrix Xoco]

Moonfall Mask

Alright then...I'm going to go for Latin. That chapter will not come up for quite a while...that gives me plenty of time to research it. I'll use Backwards English as a placeholder if any spells come up. How's that???

Do you know any good website to research Latin???

I'm actually the old fashioned sort who more relies on book-learning than these newfangled interwebz. Some books I recommend:

Ecce Romani I, which is the basic standard for Latin classes in the US. Its basic setup is a small story in Latin with vocabulary at the bottom followed by a grammar lesson. Sometimes, after the grammar section, there is a brief bit about Rome's history, culture, geography, or something along those lines. There are also reviews every few chapters.

The Wheelock text and workbooks, I've heard, are also pretty good. I've never used one myself, though.

I must warn you that you would probably have an easier time if you could learn Latin in a classroom with a teacher there. That's my personal style of learning (hearing someone lecturing and giving specific answers, and allowing me to ask questions).

I'm not too sure about good Latin-based websites. *thinks* My Latin information came mostly from a class and a wonderful teacher. If you want to use the Internet, just be sure that your website is reliable. :3 I'm also willing to answer questions you might have as well as I can.

[Imperatrix Xoco]

Homurakitsune

Nini omé elúfi epo eyo-lu oto;

There's a whole guild of conlangers here on Gaia, actually. I have faith in people. If you're passionate about something, then you'll put thought into it. (At least that's what I'd hope.) OGODPAOLINI! He makes conlangers look like idiots! gonk
You were spot on about what the German said, actually. ^_^
But I don't speak(or read) a word of Latin, sorry. xD
What's your conlang called? How far have you gotten? =)

lu ni kamoo fa lo luhoa pu funa la.

There's a guild? *curiosity is piqued* Paolini makes fantasy writers in general look bad. D: It's a depressing sort of talent he has.

Whoo! I learned an eensy bit for a skit once upon a time from someone who didn't really know German either (she was in her first class or something), so I wasn't sure if I would be able to decipher that. xD

A Latin translation: "I speak a little Latin. I do not speak it fluently... I am a student of Latin 1." I can basically comprehend Latin on a "Frog and Toad are Friends" level and speak it on par with "Go, Dog, Go!" I'm just a very ambitious Latin 1 student.

I had the worst conlang EVER back in sixth grade. A smashing-your-head-on-the-keyboard, gee-this-looks-exotic-enough sort of language. I called it... *winces* the Common Tongue. Someone should have shot me then and there.

Thankfully, the one I'm in the midst of developing right now for a certain story is more complex and thought-out. I've only just started about a month ago and so far I've got basic grammar rules down as well as the alphabet. It's got letters similar to the Romance languages (with some letters omitted, some added, accents put on in a lot of places) because I'm really not ready to make a language consisting entirely of Arabic-esque symbols just yet. Right now I haven't got a very good name for it; I'm only calling it Fargue (named after a mythological god that supposedly created the language and the world among other things) for now.

... That was off-topic.

@Moonfall: Eh, we’ve all done it at least once. *pokes above paragraph* Just so long as you’ve learned from your mistakes and, when practical, you avoid making them in the future. n_n

[Moonfall Mask]

Imperatrix Xoco

Moonfall Mask

Alright then...I'm going to go for Latin. That chapter will not come up for quite a while...that gives me plenty of time to research it. I'll use Backwards English as a placeholder if any spells come up. How's that???

Do you know any good website to research Latin???

I'm actually the old fashioned sort who more relies on book-learning than these newfangled interwebz. Some books I recommend:

Ecce Romani I, which is the basic standard for Latin classes in the US. Its basic setup is a small story in Latin with vocabulary at the bottom followed by a grammar lesson. Sometimes, after the grammar section, there is a brief bit about Rome's history, culture, geography, or something along those lines. There are also reviews every few chapters.

The Wheelock text and workbooks, I've heard, are also pretty good. I've never used one myself, though.

I must warn you that you would probably have an easier time if you could learn Latin in a classroom with a teacher there. That's my personal style of learning (hearing someone lecturing and giving specific answers, and allowing me to ask questions).

I'm not too sure about good Latin-based websites. *thinks* My Latin information came mostly from a class and a wonderful teacher. If you want to use the Internet, just be sure that your website is reliable. :3 I'm also willing to answer questions you might have as well as I can.

Thanks. smile

As much as I'd like to take a Latin class, I can't at the moment - I'm out of school due to lack of money...I could work on taking one Latin class during the semester after next. But If I get to the chapter before I can take that class...the story will be GREATLY delayed as far as finishing it goes.

[Moonfall Mask]

No words on Backwards Engilsh (like how Erised = desire)...?

[Urdocin]

Whatever you pick, don't put them backwards.
Ylsouires.

[Moonfall Mask]

Urdocin

Whatever you pick, don't put them backwards.
Ylsouires.

Alrighty then...looks like I'll have to be creative with English...for now, at least. That Language Construction jazz is way over my head, sadly. sad

[Iron Zanny]

Personally I would do a combination of both. Introduce the spell with the words in the chosen language and then imply if the same spell comes up again. Do the same for any other spell that comes up. I find that this method gives the reader a sense of reality to the language (If you create your own) and gives it a sort of in depth feel, like the character had to put time into the craft while on the same hand saves you from repeating the same things over a thousand times.

[Moonfall Mask]

Iron Zanny

Personally I would do a combination of both. Introduce the spell with the words in the chosen language and then imply if the same spell comes up again. Do the same for any other spell that comes up. I find that this method gives the reader a sense of reality to the language (If you create your own) and gives it a sort of in depth feel, like the character had to put time into the craft while on the same hand saves you from repeating the same things over a thousand times.

Are there any websites where I could learn Latin or some other easy to learn language? The chapter doesn't come up for a while, but I still need to learn the language quickly(at least the parts I need, lest the finish date of the story get delayed...

[Iron Zanny]

Moonfall Mask

Iron Zanny

Personally I would do a combination of both. Introduce the spell with the words in the chosen language and then imply if the same spell comes up again. Do the same for any other spell that comes up. I find that this method gives the reader a sense of reality to the language (If you create your own) and gives it a sort of in depth feel, like the character had to put time into the craft while on the same hand saves you from repeating the same things over a thousand times.

Are there any websites where I could learn Latin or some other easy to learn language? The chapter doesn't come up for a while, but I still need to learn the language quickly(at least the parts I need, lest the finish date of the story get delayed...

Lazy way would be to use a translator, though most will only translate word for word so you would still end up with grammar problems. I would say google it and look around or buy a lesson on CD type thing.

[ChibiGingi]

Moonfall Mask

SoulSalvage

I think it'd be best to only imply the magic words. Shouting spells and such has always been a turn off for me, so that's simply my opinion.

Won't implying them again and again get old quickly? That's my only problem with that course of action...

It goes both ways, if you ask me. I would probably suggest a balance of the two, or just alternating. I know I'm suppose to be promoting the SHOW NOT TELL factor, but it's not going to ruin a story if somewhere were to shout a name of a spell at least once or even twice throughout the course of their story.

I have magic in one of my stories, but at this point I haven't had the characters announce their spell (one of which is a binding spell to weigh down the angels and prevent them from being able to fly too high so that their opponents can fight them). Of course, that's because I don't really have a 'name' for the spell, but I think it wouldn't hurt if the reader at least knew the name of the spell, and having a character announce it would at least be beneficial for the reader to understand.

Either way, magic is tricky to write. Good luck with that!