A question about Glossaries

CandlestickJay · Dec 11, 2007

Hokay so -

As with most fantasy writers, I've got a world. It happens to be complex, with different cultures and gods and styles of magyc and countries and lots and lots of other randomness.

I've realized that it may help my readers to have a glossary they can turn to if they have questions.

Is this a good idea? Or a bad idea?

Or should this be a flashing red sign that shouts that I need to be less complicated??

Thanks!

Jay

PS. If anyone else has done this before, or has any suggestions about how to go about making one, do tell!

geardrops · Dec 11, 2007

Personally I dont use glossaries. I would assume that since the average reader doesn't even read a prologue, a glossary has even less of a chance of getting utilized. You should be able to introduce the universe slowly enough that your reader can grok it.

otterman · Dec 11, 2007

I read prologues! And I look at glossaries too, especially if there's a lot to remember about the world. I find it especially helpful with respect to character origins, families, etc. Put the glossary in, just make it as simple as possible.

Oddsocks · Dec 11, 2007

Personally, I love glossaries. I also love as many maps and appendices as authors want to give me. I'm the kind of reader who wants to know as much about a world as I can if it interests me and I'm enjoying the story.

That said, a glossary shouldn't be an excuse not to build your world within the story - it shouldn't be a substitute for natural in-story revelation. It should be possible to read and understand the story without referring to the glossary.

But if you're ok with this, then I fail to see how a glossary can hurt - readers who like them will use it, readers who don't won't, and both can enjoy your story.

Ravenlocks · Dec 11, 2007

I'm more likely to flip through the end matter than I am to read a prologue. But like Odd said, readers who don't like appendices should still be able to understand the story without flipping to the back.

That said, I've only seen end matter in maybe a handful of fantasy books I've read, and I've read a lot. Maps are fairly common, though.

Death Wizard · Dec 11, 2007

Oddsocks said:
Personally, I love glossaries. I also love as many maps and appendices as authors want to give me. I'm the kind of reader who wants to know as much about a world as I can if it interests me and I'm enjoying the story.

That said, a glossary shouldn't be an excuse not to build your world within the story - it shouldn't be a substitute for natural in-story revelation. It should be possible to read and understand the story without referring to the glossary.

But if you're ok with this, then I fail to see how a glossary can hurt - readers who like them will use it, readers who don't won't, and both can enjoy your story.

Agreed, agreed, agreed.

I definitely use a glossary. When you've written 3,000 pages with scores of people, places, and things, how could a glossary possible hurt? Plus most of my names and places are based on Pali, an ancient language related to Sanskrit. So my glossary includes pronunciations.

My-Immortal · Dec 11, 2007

I tend to use glossaries as they were intended (maybe?) - to double check names, relationships, etc. Sometimes, I don't have hours to read all in one stretch, and if the book is rather large and indepth, it helps to use glossaries to refresh my memory on names and such when I return to reading, especially after a long gap in reading.

I also read prologues and epilogues...and usually any author's notes, publisher info, etc especially if I've bought the book. I just never understood why people refuse to read prologues and epilogues -- they're part of the story! To me, that's like buying a car, but refusing to use the radio....or getting a refrigerator but refusing to use the ice maker....

But that's an entirely different topic!

Good luck with your writing.

geardrops · Dec 11, 2007

My-Immortal said:
I also read prologues and epilogues...and usually any author's notes, publisher info, etc especially if I've bought the book. I just never understood why people refuse to read prologues and epilogues -- they're part of the story! To me, that's like buying a car, but refusing to use the radio....or getting a refrigerator but refusing to use the ice maker....

I did say average

My-Immortal · Dec 11, 2007

dempsey said:
I did say average

Does that make me, just slightly above average???

Cool. My family will be so proud.

LOL

Take care -

FennelGiraffe · Dec 11, 2007

Post the glossary on your webpage as a bonus for the readers who care enough to come and look.

Gray Rose · Dec 11, 2007

I love glossaries, name lists and pronunciation lists. I always read them.

I will probably include a pronunciation guide, just because I have a couple of strange stress patterns where names are concerned...

Danthia · Dec 13, 2007

I've always felt if the reader needs a glossary to understand and follow the book the author did something wrong. The reader should be able to get all they need from the story text itself. But if you want to add one for those who enjoy them, then go for it. This is something you'd do after you sold it anyway, so ask your agent or publisher. You wouldn't submit your novel with a glossary, so until it sells it's a non-issue.

MattW · Dec 13, 2007

I've always appreciated glossaries in multi-volume stories to help jog the memory without rereading.

Also when there is a cast of thousands, I just want a snippet to remind me who is who and how they might be related to other characters or places.

A glossary that includes how things work, detailed history, drawings, agricultural charts, etc...that's information that the author might needs, but should never ever share. If something interesting is going on in your world, draw the reader in with hints and clues how it works over the course of an entire story, don't just give it away at the end.

MargueriteMing · Dec 13, 2007

I always read prologues. The author put it there for a reason. Also, glossaries are good stuff, they can shed new light on the story in ways that can't be shoehorned into the narrative without bending it out of shape.

maxmordon · Dec 13, 2007

glossaries are a necessary mean sometimes. Try to read Lord of The Rings or A Clockwork Orange without it

yanallefish · Dec 14, 2007

I have a small "Guide to Kritter" on my webpage where Kritter fans - those that exist - can go and look at more info than they'd normally get. It seems to work. I don't have a glossary but then again I currently only have stories about that land, not novels.

As for putting a glossary in a novel itself, I'm of two minds. Although it seems to have become an obligatory for fantasy writers to do when working with a complex world, it doesn't always work - the same goes for a map. Sometimes I'll open a book and sigh "ok, there's the map - does he/she have a glossary in back? Yep..." and it kind of distorts my view of the writer from page i-ii (gives me a kind of "well he/she's doing it because everyone else is doing it" and that's not necessarily good). If I want info on something I'm reading, I'll look for it in the back later, or at the author's webpage, or see if he/she has published a "Guide to the Land of --". On the other hand, complex worlds might benefit from glossaries (hell the Amber series could have used one because I kept getting lost as to who was who, but kept reading because it was great).

MattW · Dec 14, 2007

On a related note, I like a good map.

A good map is one that actually shows where the characters are, especially in the beginning when they are often in the hinterlands or small villages. If I don't know where they start from, what good is the map?

If all of the story takes place in a 1X1 square on a map, I don't need to see the entire continent, even if the author knows what is out there. Zoom in so that the events or travels can be distinguished. And if there's little to no movement, isn't a map more of a distraction?

Paichka · Dec 19, 2007

Chiming in...

I second the maps -- whenever an author mentions a town or a castle or whatever (as in the current book I'm reading) I always flip back to the map. Maps are fun!

Additional information in the back of the book can be wildly useful, from a reader's perspective -- as in Dune, or The Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. His books are huge and complex, and I'd forget the relationships between some of the minor characters if I didn't have something to refer back to. I like the method of adding "excerpts" from the histories of the fantasy world -- it gives a glimpse of events in the recent (or not so recent) past that may be affecting the sociopolitical whatever of the story.

I ESPECIALLY like pronunciation guides, when the author has made up a language or names with special characters or wonky stresses. (The Prince of Nothing author Bakker is guilty of this.)

Just my opinion, and I agree with the posters who said that a story should stand alone without one.

Death Wizard · Dec 19, 2007

Yes, maps are awesome. I refer to them a lot as I read.

Bartholomew · Dec 19, 2007

I thought about this for a while, and this seems like the most logical answer to me.

If you need to include a glossary, you probably need to edit more.

If you want/U] to include a glossary, than its mere presence will enhance your story.

oscuridad · Dec 19, 2007

maxmordon said:
glossaries are a necessary mean sometimes. Try to read Lord of The Rings or A Clockwork Orange without it

I agree about 'A Clockwork Orange' - not so sure about LotR, I read it 1st very young in an edition without much other stuff and it was fine. Mind you, it is the only book I have finished reading and then just turned back to the beginning and started again without a break.

I love glossaries and prologues and all that stuff - and I really loved it when I was a kid. Bring it on!

oscuridad · Dec 19, 2007

Bartholomew said:
I thought about this for a while, and this seems like the most logical answer to me.

If you need to include a glossary, you probably need to edit more.

If you want/U] to include a glossary, than its mere presence will enhance your story.

and what Bartholomew said

Shadow_Ferret · Dec 19, 2007

maxmordon said:
glossaries are a necessary mean sometimes. Try to read Lord of The Rings or A Clockwork Orange without it

I have never even SEEN a glossary in anything I've read.

I certainly don't recall one in LOTR, but then I've never gotten past the first few pages so I never bothered to check in the back.

chroniclemaster1 · Dec 23, 2007

Shadow_Ferret said:
I have never even SEEN a glossary in anything I've read.

I certainly don't recall one in LOTR, but then I've never gotten past the first few pages so I never bothered to check in the back.

ROFL. Tolkien not only included secondary materials but a complete history of Middle Earth at the end. It's more than a hundred pages of material (depending on your edition).

Bartholomew said:
If you need to include a glossary, you probably need to edit more.

If you want/U] to include a glossary, than its mere presence will enhance your story.

Dead on answer. Couldn't agree more.

blacbird · Dec 23, 2007

I pretty much hate 'em, in fiction. If I want to do academic work (which I sometimes need to do), then a glossary is a useful tool. If I want to read a story, having to look up an unknown term in the back of a book real quick-like makes me go find another book.

And, yeah, one of the novels I most admire, A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, contains a glossary in the back, at least in U.S. editions. I understand that the U.S. publisher insisted on it, and Burgess hated the idea, but gave in (or had no real choice in the matter). It's pretty much useless, if you read the book attentively. Burgess was a genius in several areas, and he was entirely conscious of the need to render his unusual slang terms understandable in context. When I first read it, they almost always were, and in the rare event they weren't, I figured that was my fault, and not Burgess's.

I think it's a good idea (and a good challenge, too) to write your fantasy or SF story in such a way as to make unusual fantastic words or terms transparently understandable in the context of the narrative. If you need a glossary, you've stumbled.

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