Word Corner

There aren't nearly enough synonyms for hair. It's time to ransack some other languages, fellas!

The Quandaries of Fantasy

Every fantasy writer sooner or later runs into the problem of whether he can call Chantilly lace that given that Chantilly is one of our Earth locations. On the one hand, it's a reference to non-fantasy stuff. On the other, so is lots of stuff. Getting hung up on that is like trying to cut off somebody's skin without getting any of the blood. Here are some points to consider.
- Who's the narrator? Even if you have an omniscient third-person thing going on, think about what kinds of references the narrator might make.
- What's the feel of the thing? Does everything have to be contained within the world, creating a sense perhaps of tension or urgency, or is it a breezier sort of story where digressions are allowed?
- Is there another way to communicate the information? Suppose someone has a pretty face and a ponytail, hanging down, a wiggle in her walk and a giggle in her talk. The reader will get the idea.

Blue Hair

That can look however you want. I'm getting on board this destruction of red hair train, and I'm never getting off.

Red Hair

It's tough. On the one hand, I want to support redheads as the entertainment industry tries to extirpate them from all fiction, and so I should change "annoying" to "fiery" in every reference to them. On the other hand, red hair never looks fiery. Never.

If You're Looking for a Hot Reveal

Wait till near the end of the story, then reveal in a casual aside that every single person in the setting is a redhead. Readers will recommend it to all their friends.

Style Note

Anyone interested in fantasy will be reminded of the existence of beards merely by looking at an author. That's all well and good, but don't forget that mustaches used to be popular, too.

An Easy Way to Provide Character Descriptions

Instead of trying to come up with twenty different ways to say "blond" or "brunette," just give all your characters a ratings. For example: "Rangello Archman entered the room. He was an 8/10 easy, maybe a 9." This will save us all a lot of time we can use to watch edits of Simpsons jokes.