I apologize if this is a thread that has appeared before, but there are so many threads I may have missed it.
I remember reading a few fantasy novels where the names of people/places/things were a hindrance and an annoyance to the point where I put the book down unfinished. I was constantly wondering: Who is that again? What city is this again? Why is that item important? Etc. I find having to frequently consult the glossary at the back of books to be a distraction.
The book I am writing is set in ancient Japan and deals with a lot of unusual and sometimes long foreign words and names. Since I have lived in Japan for 10 years, I'm not the best judge of what words are difficult for a someone unfamiliar with Japanese to recall.
For example, first names in English tend to be one or two syllables, but first names in Japanese can be quite long depending. It is not unusual for boys' first names to be three or four syllables long: eg. Fu-mi-hi-ro. If you also add that to a long last name, it gets a bit cumbersome: Fu-ta-tsu-mo-ri Fu-mi-hi-ro. Finally, the names of many historical figures and important items have honorifics that are usually attached to them.
If I say Excalibur or Alexander the great, those names have a cultural touchstone in many western readers' consciousnesses and so, hopefully, the reader isn't require to periodically go to the glossary to check, but famous Japanese historical figures/items/events are likely far less well-known.
I'm wondering if anyone has advice on how to make foreign names of people/places more easily comprehensible and memorable. Obviously including a glossary at the end of who's who is useful, but are there perchance some tips or tricks for helping the reader along? For example, what is your opinion on how often should you remind the reader what an item is? e.g. "Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur, was thrown into a lake." or "The sword Excalibur..."
I remember reading a few fantasy novels where the names of people/places/things were a hindrance and an annoyance to the point where I put the book down unfinished. I was constantly wondering: Who is that again? What city is this again? Why is that item important? Etc. I find having to frequently consult the glossary at the back of books to be a distraction.
The book I am writing is set in ancient Japan and deals with a lot of unusual and sometimes long foreign words and names. Since I have lived in Japan for 10 years, I'm not the best judge of what words are difficult for a someone unfamiliar with Japanese to recall.
For example, first names in English tend to be one or two syllables, but first names in Japanese can be quite long depending. It is not unusual for boys' first names to be three or four syllables long: eg. Fu-mi-hi-ro. If you also add that to a long last name, it gets a bit cumbersome: Fu-ta-tsu-mo-ri Fu-mi-hi-ro. Finally, the names of many historical figures and important items have honorifics that are usually attached to them.
If I say Excalibur or Alexander the great, those names have a cultural touchstone in many western readers' consciousnesses and so, hopefully, the reader isn't require to periodically go to the glossary to check, but famous Japanese historical figures/items/events are likely far less well-known.
I'm wondering if anyone has advice on how to make foreign names of people/places more easily comprehensible and memorable. Obviously including a glossary at the end of who's who is useful, but are there perchance some tips or tricks for helping the reader along? For example, what is your opinion on how often should you remind the reader what an item is? e.g. "Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur, was thrown into a lake." or "The sword Excalibur..."
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