Lounge

[Robinski he/him]

I'm actually gonna get paid. The kickstarter for my first pro sale has enough to fund.

Hurray!

(Strange coincidence, watched The Illusionist last night, from the story Eisenheim, The Illusionist - for those who don't know.)

Edited May 9, 2016 by Robinski

[smgorden he/him]

Hey friends. I finished writing a new chapter tonight (which I hadn't done since the end of the January). I'm excited. 

[Shadowfax]

Yay! That's awesome! It always feels good to get something new on a page

 

I'm really close to finishing one of my chapter ones. I'm stuck on a bit of terminology and that is crushing my workflow but other than that it's coming along.

[smgorden he/him]

If it helps, put [correct term] in your passage and keep moving. Revisit when the chapter's done. I've only done it once, but I put something like [character X talks about whatever] in a chapter, because I had to write the rest of the chapter in order to know what would go inside those brackets. It wasn't ideal, but continuing on felt better at the time than trying to figure everything out first.

[Shadowfax]

You know, I've used placeholders before and I just didn't think about it. <sigh> What I ended up doing was removing the piece I was trying to name, but I REALLY want it. I may go back and edit it in with a placeholder and then try to figure out what this stupid thing is called. I'm sure it has a name. It has to. :/

[kais]

If it helps, put [correct term] in your passage and keep moving. Revisit when the chapter's done. I've only done it once, but I put something like [character X talks about whatever] in a chapter, because I had to write the rest of the chapter in order to know what would go inside those brackets. It wasn't ideal, but continuing on felt better at the time than trying to figure everything out first.

OMG smgorden you're ALIVE!

[Robinski he/him]

You know, I've used placeholders before and I just didn't think about it. <sigh> What I ended up doing was removing the piece I was trying to name, but I REALLY want it. I may go back and edit it in with a placeholder and then try to figure out what this stupid thing is called. I'm sure it has a name. It has to. :/

 

Throw it out to the bear-pit - what's this word you're looking for? Animal, vegetable or mineral?

Edited May 10, 2016 by Robinski

[Robinski he/him]

OMG smgorden you're ALIVE!

 

Lol - King of the impossible!!

[Shadowfax]

Throw it out to the bear-pit - what's this word you're looking for? Animal, vegetable or mineral?

 

 

It's a thing! It's an article of clothing, sort of. It's like a tabard, in that it is sleeveless and work over the head, and drapes down the front and back of the wearer (past the waist, to about thigh-length), but it's thin, like a banner, maybe only 6 inches wide or so. It would be held in place by a belt around the waist and worn over a tunic, not as a shirt itself.

 

Like, I can picture it in my head and I swear I've seen it's like before (in history books, during my university career), but I can't find anything on Google, Wikipedia, etc. that will give me the word I need. I could, in theory, use a bunch of nouns and adjectives to describe it, but I'd rather not LOL

[Robinski he/him]

You sure it's not just a thin tabard? I searched tabard and it returned what I feel like you're describing.

 

Try searching "synonyms for tabard" and you'll get a whole range of alternatives.

[Shadowfax]

You sure it's not just a thin tabard? I searched tabard and it returned what I feel like you're describing.

 

Try searching "synonyms for tabard" and you'll get a whole range of alternatives.

 

When I was writing I was typing the word tabard, then decided to look it up to make sure I was correct, and all the images and descriptions I got were of a short coat type garment. Women's versions were basically wide aprons. I'll look up synonyms as you suggest and see what that comes up with. Perhaps it is a tabard, but I also don't want to put the wrong mental image into readers heads if tabards are "mostly" as described by the Internet.

[king007 he/him]

Do readers even care or know these terms? Personally, when I encounter an unknown technical clothing term, I just breeze through it unless it's somehow necessary to understand the situation. What about you guys?

[krystalynn03 she/her]

I think a whole lot of things depend on context and the mindset of the reader. I might be surprised by a word I don't know (as fiction is written for entertainment and doesn't have a lot of high academic vocabulary), but if the story has me pulled in, I won't slow down for a single term, especially if the author provides some context clues to help me know what I need to know. Otherwise, keep plugging on.

[Shadowfax]

Some people know, some people (like me) look things up and some people breeze by. But I don't want to use a word that "almost fits" or is "mostly right". My integrity as a researcher, historian and writer would be up for questioning if I let myself just use any word when I *know* there's a right one.

[krystalynn03 she/her]

Also, if I have a word, number, or name when I'm making a first draft, I like to use ### to mark it out. I'm not trying to look like Twitter, but the hashtag symbol is so foreign to any normal fiction conventions of punctuation that it makes it really, really easy to notice what I marked later. (as opposed to parenthesis or brackets, which can blend in better)

[Shadowfax]

I may try your pound sign trick. I went back to look for my section I edited earlier and the brackets did blend in a bit.

[krystalynn03 she/her]

I don't think your integrity would be questioned--just maybe your accuracy. Besides, if the context is fantasy, not everything has to line up exactly perfectly to reality. It just has to be consistent within itself and not jar the reader. IMHO

[Shadowfax]

Well, *I'd* be the one questioning it... it would hold me up. It would bother me. It's just how I work :/

 

There are so many leaps of faith fantasy writer ask readers to take, the least I can do is give them something solid and factual when I have the ability to do so.

 

Also, stupid dictionary has no synonyms for tabard, so I'm trying a new search tactic. *crosses fingers*

[krystalynn03 she/her]

Well, then the person most affected by this then is you, and you're allowed to work at whatever pace is best for your process.

 

Otherwise, I think your 'leap of faith' phrasing is interesting. I don't think we ask readers to take a leap of faith when the read fantasy. I think the conventions built into the genre  itself allow fantasy readers to suspend their disbelief in ways that actually gives us more creative freedom. The only thing is that were there is license there is accountability, so you have to not only write the rules but play by the rules you write.

 

A leap of of faith implies that the reader is risking something. When I sit down to a fantasy book, I don't feel like I'm more at risk than I am with any other book. There's more risk for the author, because he/she has to construct everything in a way that feels real within the context, but I'd say the only time the author asks the reader to take a leap of faith is when he/she actually parts with money to read the thing!

 

(Disagreeing for the sake of interesting conversation--not for the sake of being disagreeable. )

[Shadowfax]

LOL true, I am the one most affected by my silly internal conflicts Sadly, I still have to deal with them.

 

You also make valid points. I hope I one day get to the part where people risk parting with their money for my words LOL

 

in other news: SCAPULAR!

 

I found it! I did a google search for "pope's clothes" and long story short, found the piece I've been looking for. I remember seeing a picture of a pope wearing one and bam! Yay!

 

The most important part of this for me is that scapular has a strong religious usage, so for readers who know what a scapular is, they will get that extra layer of religious context, as in chapter one I don't actually mention the Orders as being part of a religion. We get some background on the Orders, but the religious aspect will be viewed from POVs outside the Orders, whereas the character IN the Order... well, she's weird. LOL

Edited May 10, 2016 by Shadowfax

[krystalynn03 she/her]

Congrats on finding the word!

[Robinski he/him]

Well, *I'd* be the one questioning it... it would hold me up. It would bother me. It's just how I work :/

 

There are so many leaps of faith fantasy writer ask readers to take, the least I can do is give them something solid and factual when I have the ability to do so.

 

Also, stupid dictionary has no synonyms for tabard, so I'm trying a new search tactic. *crosses fingers*

 

Type it into Google - "synonyms for tabard" - don't use a dictionary - too narrow in its terms of reference.

[Robinski he/him]

Okay, I've taken a step backwards. I know what a tabard is, but have no idea what scapular is. I would probably skip over that word.

[Silk she/her]

A little late to the party, but since I saw people talking above about marking stuff in a manuscript to come back to later...

 

One trick I've picked up is using the letters TK to mark a spot that I want to come back to later for whatever reason. It's not visually distinct, but that combination of letters apparently almost never appears in the English language, so it's easy to find in a long document provided you're using the search function.

[krystalynn03 she/her]

Hey <R>, I think you should organize a fantasy series Hurt'n'Heal on this board...