Simple things that a lot of Fantasy Writers get wrong in their books....

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K. Trian

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I'm too lazy to go back through the thread and quote the post, but I just wanted to say it's totally possible for a dagger or short-sword to ping when you remove it from a leather sheath. You have to draw it at an angle so the tip of the blade catches on the edge of the sheath. It makes that pinging sound when it comes free. The swishing is also optional, depending on how tight the sheath is and how fast you draw it. I have several daggers and swords (all functional) and was just experimenting. If I want to ping and swish for dramatic effect, it's pretty easy, though it can also be avoided.
Hmm... interesting. So it depends on the sheath and the weapon? (Well, 'duh', sometimes I can be so thick :D)
I do wish some heroes avoided it though. When they're stalking, their swords start pinging and swishing, and that's just funny.

I can't dispute what you've experimented and the results you've gotten, but I think in my works I'll still go by what my sources have explained, especially 'cause I'll be using the types of swords and sheaths they use.

It depends a lot on the reader too what they find 'wrong.' I'm not terribly open-minded (o rly?), so I can get unusually nitpicky. Please, authors, don't think of readers like me when you're writing :D
 

ThatKnight64

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My favorite mistake in fantasy novels is 'Senses'. Authors often write that people have only 'five' senses and that your sixth sense is your 'magical/boogie' detector. It's funny because in reality (depending on how you want to count them) a human being has 14-20 senses.
 

Reziac

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My favorite mistake in fantasy novels is 'Senses'. Authors often write that people have only 'five' senses and that your sixth sense is your 'magical/boogie' detector. It's funny because in reality (depending on how you want to count them) a human being has 14-20 senses.

That's an interesting topic. What senses should we be thinking about, besides the Official Six? (sight, hearing, taste, smell [tho some would argue those are the same via different channels], touch, and whatever they call the one where you can tell how far apart your non-touching body parts are -- position??)

In my SF universe, some people have "psychic abilities" (for lack of another mundane term) that can function sorta like radar. We often see that in fantasy as "wizard sense" of one sort or another.
 

ThatKnight64

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That's an interesting topic. What senses should we be thinking about, besides the Official Six? (sight, hearing, taste, smell [tho some would argue those are the same via different channels], touch, and whatever they call the one where you can tell how far apart your non-touching body parts are -- position??)

In my SF universe, some people have "psychic abilities" (for lack of another mundane term) that can function sorta like radar. We often see that in fantasy as "wizard sense" of one sort or another.

It's just a misnomer that we only have 5 basic senses. When in all actuality the process of 'senses' is much more complex.
If the authors actually portrayed it as the '5 basic senses' instead of 'You have five senses! And the six is your magic radar!' it would be okay. I think that a lot of them don't really realize there are more than 5.

Source: (I just did a quick google search, in college I did a big research paper on the topic)

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/question242.htm
 

Reziac

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It's just a misnomer that we only have 5 basic senses. When in all actuality the process of 'senses' is much more complex.
If the authors actually portrayed it as the '5 basic senses' instead of 'You have five senses! And the six is your magic radar!' it would be okay. I think that a lot of them don't really realize there are more than 5.

Source: (I just did a quick google search, in college I did a big research paper on the topic)

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/question242.htm

Neat research topic :)

[reads article] Hmm... perhaps not so much separate senses, but if one ignores the different types of nerves and concentrates on the effects -- more subsets, such as pain, cold, heat, internal sensations, etc. being subsets of touch. Is the sense of vibration a subset of hearing, or touch, or does it cross boundaries? how far does smell overlap with taste? Is it really a spectrum? where something lies would influence how it's noticed by characters and how/whether it's described by the author.
 
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RobertEvert

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Neat research topic :)

[reads article] Hmm... perhaps not so much separate senses, but if one ignores the different types of nerves and concentrates on the effects -- more subsets, such as pain, cold, heat, internal sensations, etc. being subsets of touch. Is the sense of vibration a subset of hearing, or touch, or does it cross boundaries? how far does smell overlap with taste? Is it really a spectrum? where something lies would influence how it's noticed by characters and how/whether it's described by the author.

Very cool topic. Is there a sense involving estimating the passing of time?
 

Reziac

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Very cool topic. Is there a sense involving estimating the passing of time?

Being possessed of a very accurate internal clock... I'd say so!

Hmm, that would make an interesting trait for a fantasy character... where timesense is necessary for whatever wizardry, and one poor fellow's has its quirks.
 

RobertEvert

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I think another interesting "sense" would involve gauging other people's emotions. Empathy. I work with individuals with autism spectrum disorder and it always amazes me what they don't pick up on.
 

ThatKnight64

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Oh, wow I started a big chain of events! Lol. The other senses that I'm referring too would be things like time or spacial awareness. Since both of these don't really fall under a category but they are legitimate senses.
 

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I think another interesting "sense" would involve gauging other people's emotions. Empathy. I work with individuals with autism spectrum disorder and it always amazes me what they don't pick up on.

It's been used in SF/F occasionally, as a special sense or ability, both as asset and liability. Now I'm wondering about breaking it down to specific subsets...
 

RobertEvert

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Oh, wow I started a big chain of events! Lol. The other senses that I'm referring too would be things like time or spacial awareness. Since both of these don't really fall under a category but they are legitimate senses.

It's a good topic...not just what other senses there are, but also how our traditional senses can be extended. For example, there are so many things the human eye can't see. Imagine the possibilities of giving one of your characters the ability to see ultraviolet light, for example.
 

ClareGreen

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Some people actually can see partway into the ultraviolet.
 

bearilou

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Being possessed of a very accurate internal clock... I'd say so!

Hmm, that would make an interesting trait for a fantasy character... where timesense is necessary for whatever wizardry, and one poor fellow's has its quirks.

I have excellent direction sense. I rarely get lost. I almost always know where I am in relation to other places even if I don't know where I am specifically.

/derail
 

EMaree

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RobertEvert

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I have excellent direction sense. I rarely get lost. I almost always know where I am in relation to other places even if I don't know where I am specifically.

/derail

Ugh! I get lost coming out of stores all the time.

Who cares about flying or x-ray vision. Finding my car in the mall parking lot during the holidays is the super ability I want to have!
 

Reziac

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I have excellent direction sense. I rarely get lost. I almost always know where I am in relation to other places even if I don't know where I am specifically.

I have good directional sense too, and carry a map in my head of everywhere I've ever been (I suspect the two traits are related). So I never get lost.... as you say, I may not know exactly where I am, but I can always get back to where I just was.

My mom is just the opposite... if she comes out of a store and turns one way, it's a 100% bet that her car is parked off the other direction!

Funny story, tho.. first time I went from Montana to SoCal, about halfway there it started feeling like the world had turned the wrong way round, and by the time I got to San Diego, my directional sense was quite sure the sun should come up over the ocean! After a couple weeks it normalized, and now auto-adjusts when I make a N/S trek, but due to this I'd guess it's a sensitivity to the Earth's magnetic field.

As to what this has to do with getting stuff right or wrong in fantasy... we've all seen lots of characters lost in the woods, and others who don't do anything special and never consult a map, but never get lost. Some readers complain that neither is believable, but clearly we know better. :D

And in my SF epic, Special Folks never get lost in space, because they can "feel" where they are. So if the nav computer goes down, we can still get home -- it's thataway!!
 

ThatKnight64

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Rather interesting. When you said to expand on senses it made me think of my brother. Regardless of what he is doing, walking, running or carrying something. He always knows what's around him without having to look. I've seen him step over or around a cat while looking at something entirely different.
Could this be acute spacial awareness? Sort of like reaching for your glasses in the dark, or grabbing a door handle without looking?
I've never been able to do that and my cats now know to avoid my big feet.
 

K. Trian

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Ugh! I get lost coming out of stores all the time.

Who cares about flying or x-ray vision. Finding my car in the mall parking lot during the holidays is the super ability I want to have!
Looked for mine for almost half an hour last Saturday
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I don't get lost in the woods, not even in a city, but I get lost in malls, parking halls, and huge-ass supermarkets.

It's so cool how many fantasy characters can find their way just by looking at the stars...
 

EMaree

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I'm slowly teaching myself astrology so I can survive the coming apocalypse make the most of the clear skies up here.

If I ever wrote about characters using astrology to find their way home, it would be... different...

"Ooh, I know this one! The three stars in a row are Orion's belt! He's waving at Jupiter! Sirius is just chilling below like 'Hey, remember me? I was in an awesome Diana Wynne Jones book. Plus, need I say, Harry friggin Pot--"
"Okay, but which way is home?"
"I don't know. Let's go say hi to Orion!"

Who needs the North Star when Orion's waving above your house?
 

rwm4768

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Ugh! I get lost coming out of stores all the time.

Who cares about flying or x-ray vision. Finding my car in the mall parking lot during the holidays is the super ability I want to have!

In my upper MG fantasy, I actually created a magical ability for this very purpose.
 
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