Modern/Fantasy language

[Mirai Gen]

This is something I've been kicking around for a while.

Basically I like fantasy, but I really dislike fantasy language, IE, I prefer when dialog is quick and concise and modern. A normal sort of conversation you'd hear everyday between people (or read on the forum) minus all of the references and swear words and such, I think works just fine in place in a fantasy novel. But I'm not sure if I'm alone on this one.

An examplay:

"Well, don't worry about it. We'll deal with it tomorrow."
Fantasy ified turns into
"We shan't worry about it. We will see what comes tomorrow."

This is the kind of thing I mean; the sort of contractions and casual speak like "Deal" and "Well" seem to make flowier dialog.

I mean I could always go the easy route and explain it away in the story by saying that the more civilized areas of my world speak in one while the nomads like barbarians from the north or the sand dwellers don't, but I don't think it matters how I explain it if it bugs enough people.

Anyone have thoughts?

[TDK]

Discworld doesn't use fantasy speak for the most part, and it seems to be doing just fine.

[Mike McC]

I think that Early Modern English (the term "Fantasy English" irks me) is used simply to enhance the effect of the time period, as that way of speaking is tied to the notion of knights and princesses and castles and what have you, despite that most of that historically happened in the ages of Old English and Middle English. However, the Early Modern English is also easy to understand as it actually looks like the same language we use today, and also because Shakespear left behind a full lexicon for us to use.

Really, it's usage depends on the sort of feel you're going for. Do you want this To feel more like the modern fantasy series that are everywhere, or do you want this to feel like it's coming directly from one of Chaucer's pilgrims? Using language can provide an interesting filter for the way the reader feels a story.

[Mirai Gen]

Mostly I'm shooting for modern fantasy. It's taking place during a midevil time of sorts but the fantasy speak doesn't really feel correct.

Similarly, to me this story feels like the flow of DND - don't worry about language, food, taking shits in the wilderness, let's just have some fun, alright?

I just wasn't sure (Because I haven't read much fantasy like this) if being in a midevil setting automatically sets my dialog to "Shakespeare."

[bluestarultor]

As a guy with a fantasy story in the works (two if you count my game), I personally use speech to define the social classes. In the case of the elite, more formal speech is acceptable, although I generally don't go too too far into archaisms. For the rank and file, more natural speech is appropriate.


For example, in my actual book story, the MC finds himself in a world completely different from his own and is promptly captured by one of the warring factions as a potential spy because of what he's wearing. These people are incredibly high and mighty about it and a large part of that is because he's stumbled into a theocracy who believe they are in the right of the conflict. These people talk in pretty formal tones because they need to maintain the illusion of power to the rank and file. After a ton of getting badgered, they finally determine he really doesn't know what the hell is going on, toss him in jail for the time being, and get to work on deciphering his textbooks for the knowledge within (he's got generally useful stuff like chem and such). While they're working on that, there's a raid on the town by another faction, who grab the MC as he's making a break from his cell. The new people are basically grunts with no illusions about their own superiority and have a much more relaxed tone of speech. In fact, they border on boorish. But they make him a helluva lot more comfortable than a bunch of religious types putting on airs.


In my game, I'll be using formality and age of speech to set characters apart for several purposes. The cast comes from wildly different settings and have greatly varied personalities, but the overall goal is to have a modern pre-industrial (I know it seems like those conflict XD ) setting. As such, a lot of the speech is pretty modern for half the main cast, farmers sound like country bumpkins, the educated sound more formal, the elite sound aloof, etc.




In short, speech is best used in a way that adds to the story, character, or setting.

[Kaneda]

I think the "fantasy dialogue" can work just fine, an example of that being ASoIaF. When executed properly I feel like it can work better than modern dialogue, just for the sake of atmosphere.

[The Wizard Who Did It]

To add to Blues' statement, an important aspect of speech and writing is diction. What you're saying is that it doesn't matter how you say something if you say the same thing. However, diction speaks otherwise. Diction, through the way words are used, which words are used, and how it flows says a lot about the character in question. Using a different diction for different social classes, groups, and characters helps the reader to understand things about the character without actually saying anything*.

However, like any other literary tool, diction can be ignored and scrapped if it's deemed unnecessary. Also like any other literary tool, actively manipulating diction without any idea of why you're doing it is a horrible idea.

In summary, it's a specific literary device that is used to communicate ideas and help place a setting without being blunt. However, if the effect seems clunky or out of place it may very well be because the writer's not using it well.

*If someone uses "sir" a lot, they're probably used to servitude, as a minor example.

[Mirai Gen]

Using a different diction for different social classes, groups, and characters helps the reader to understand things about the character without actually saying anything*.

Probably where this is heading.

I've got enough votes I can just steer ahead with what I was thinking. Cool.

[Mike McC]

If you need votes to decide how you're going to write something, it's generally a bad sign.

[Preturbed]

My thought is that if you're going to write in an archaic tone, do it properly. Nothing pisses me off more than seeing old words used incorrectly. Do your research, you'll be fine.