Hi all! I have two things I'm wondering about for my WIP, which is secondary world fantasy.
1. The setting is an empire which is divided geographically and culturally, but not politically, into a north and a south. My main character is from the South and she moves to the North, so the distinction comes up quite a bit. As you can see from the last sentence, my tendency has been to capitalize it. I'm wondering if that's appropriate, and if it also extends to these types of situations:
"She'd heard northern food wasn't as spicy and colorful as southern."
"Ah yes, the famed southern penchant for swimming. Don't go back home and tell everyone the secret that we Northerners sink like stones."
As you can see, I'm being inconsistent. I can't decide what feels right. Is there a rule I need to follow here?
2. Next has to do with titles of government officials. I know the general rule of capitalize if it's part of the name, e.g. "Justice Minister Bob walked through the door" vs. "Bob, the justice minister, walked through the door." However, sometimes I refer to Bob as the "Minister of Justice," and I can't bring myself to do that in lowercase. For a real-world analog, isn't in the case that we capitalize "Secretary of Defense" but not "defense secretary"? Should "Defense Secretary" actually be capitalized? I'm having a hard time articulating the difference even though there does seem to be one.
1. The setting is an empire which is divided geographically and culturally, but not politically, into a north and a south. My main character is from the South and she moves to the North, so the distinction comes up quite a bit. As you can see from the last sentence, my tendency has been to capitalize it. I'm wondering if that's appropriate, and if it also extends to these types of situations:
"She'd heard northern food wasn't as spicy and colorful as southern."
"Ah yes, the famed southern penchant for swimming. Don't go back home and tell everyone the secret that we Northerners sink like stones."
As you can see, I'm being inconsistent. I can't decide what feels right. Is there a rule I need to follow here?
2. Next has to do with titles of government officials. I know the general rule of capitalize if it's part of the name, e.g. "Justice Minister Bob walked through the door" vs. "Bob, the justice minister, walked through the door." However, sometimes I refer to Bob as the "Minister of Justice," and I can't bring myself to do that in lowercase. For a real-world analog, isn't in the case that we capitalize "Secretary of Defense" but not "defense secretary"? Should "Defense Secretary" actually be capitalized? I'm having a hard time articulating the difference even though there does seem to be one.
