It's been a bit since I've done one of these. I blame school and stuff, but that's not all of it. I've been working on Song of the Nightingale too as well as Factions of the Lost Ones and am making solid progress...
I've also been prepping with mpart for the release of her story - it's been a busy month in terms of story-related news and I have even MORE of it!
I'm super, super pleased to say that I'm going to be detailing and taking pictures for this impending "War for the Land of the Dead" that's been going on for the past few chapters. This is my first ever battle scene I'll be detailing and getting pictures for, so I imagine it'll probably be a bit rough around the edges as I'm slowly figuring things out. Feedback is always appreciated!
That's not the reason we're here though! The reason is super-de-duper exciting: I'm prepping to launch the very first Chronicles! (Happy Squeal)!
Chronicles (as seen under the table labeled such) are my short stories that are like backstories/expanded chapters on characters who (otherwise) wouldn't get that sort of attention. This is to give ground to those little characters who may have adorable little stories (yet aren't found within the main family). I love doing these because I feel they really help build the world up a little and let people explore areas that I may not get a chance to cover but that is totally there (we didn't just build up what we needed when we started writing this world - we built everything).
Now, for those of you reading on mobile and used to swiping left or right to get to the previous or next chapter... you may run into some issues! No longer will my chapters be separated by my (fabulous) author's notes, but ALSO by random chapters for my Chronicles - so if that gets too confusing at any point, I'll encourage you to use the links I put in at the bottom of chapters instead (to move to and fro through the chapters in chronological order without having my author's notes and random chronicles chapters interfering) as I cannot control how the swiping to next posts works, hence why I always put the "next chapter" bit at the bottom.
Ahem, anyways, so yes, I'm writing the first Chronicles as I type (well, I took a small break to write this, but still) and I've realized that I've hit a minor setback in terms of readers-versus-writing point of view. So I've got a question for all you readers (and a little poll - yay polls!) if you could spare but a few more minutes of your time I would greatly appreciate it!
So - my concern is this: this first Chronicles is being written in another part of the world - The Glades. The prominent language there is Nym and it's rare for people to speak the fir tongue (human/mortal tongue). So normally I would just write the dialogue in Nym and leave plenty of context clues in, like so:
"Nuiri, Sese!" She greeted cheerfully as she skipped past the instructor.
"Nuiri, Saoirse. Irgûldh?" The instructor looked at her flatly with a raised eyebrow.
Saoirse stopped at the question - she couldn't recall the last time she had opened her textbook, let alone studied from it. "Noasana?" She lied. The only person who caught her staring out the window instead of studying yesterday was the nursemaid, so it's not like someone could prove her false.
There are still a decent amount of time that Fir (mortal/human - English) language is used, but between Nymphs it's not common at all to use an outside language. So when reading these chapters, would you like the language to be in Nym (as shown above) or in English - yet assuming that they're speaking in Nym? My leaning response is to carry on with things as they are and have a heavy focus on context clues and a translation guide at the very end of the chapter (as I do with my Nym the rest of the time). However, to be on the safe side, if there's an overwhelming amount of people who would rather it be entirely in English with just hints of Nym, then that's the way I will take things. Hence the following poll.
So, if could please take a moment and pick an option for me, that'd be fantastic! If no one votes I'll stick with Nym. If it's tied, I'll likely stick with Nym. If you vote "No Preference" then I'll count that as a vote towards Nym (just so you're fully aware of how things are stacked).
If you're super passionate one way or the other, please leave me a comment so I can consider it. Otherwise I'll assume it's more just a preference rather than something you feel is important.
Should the dialogue be written in English or Nym?
Note: 'No Preference' votes will be counted as 'Nym' votes.
**Edit 11/28**
No more votes are being counted from this point on. The final tally is 9 total votes with 5 for Nym, 3 for English, and 1 for No Preference. We'll carry on with Nym and do a poll following the first chapter to see if people have changed their minds! Thank you so much!
Much love,
Livvielove.
**End Edit**
Anyways, that's all I've got for you today! I'm-
YOU CAN'T KEEP US LOCKED OUT FOREVER.
STOP. I'M WORKING HERE. (Coughs). Dammit. I was so close...
Are you done yet?
YES. GEESUS.
Let me know your thoughts! Working on the next chapter and the first Chronicles! Exciting times are coming!
Lots of love,
Livvielove
OOH CHRONICLES LAUNCH
ReplyDeleteEXCITING
*fist pump*
And now the comment is spazzing out on me so i,m writing blind here....BUT im very super duper excited about this (hoping for no grammar mistakes because wow that is some intense spazzing out)
HAHA, the comment looks good to me. XD I get what you're saying at least.
DeleteI'M SO EXCITED. I HAVE SO MUCH I WANT WRITE AND THEN MY PROFESSORS ARE LIKE:
"Haha, how about papers for school?"
NUUUUUUUU.
HEY LOOK
ReplyDeleteComment stopped spazzing and my other comment looks pretty decent.
I think as long as the Nym language doesn't take up 50% of the chapter then it's fine, because it's starts to get tiring after a while to have to go check the translation.
Ideally it shouldn't. I'm trying to make it so that what's being said is very obvious in context and if you want to know the *exact* wording you'll see it at the end with the translation guide. The character is very thoughtful about a lot of things and if it comes to more intense conversations I may just write the direct translation next to it in italicised font for clearer access, but as I said, I'm aiming for everything to be obvious with the context of the character's thoughts and the descriptions I'm putting in. This Chronicles will likely be more than one chapter (probably several) so the first chapter can be my test subject I guess and if people hate it then I'll switch it up.
DeleteHonestly I adore Nym so much. I think it adds an extra layer to the lore I have not been able to learn to write myself yet.
ReplyDelete