Young Writers Society

In a story I'm writing, I have a character who uses a lot of words that no one's heard of. On several occasions, I have sat down at my computer intending to write a scene with this character in it. The problem is, I can never find any rare words that fit with what she's trying to say. So here's my question: Do you think it's okay to make up words, or would that just ruin the effect?

If you think it's bad, any advice on how to find real one's that fit would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

-Sorceress

It depends on whether or not the meaning of your words will be understood. If you read Lewis Carrol, you can see he came up with a lot of words (he is the creator of 'chortled' and 'burbled' both of which are favorite words of mine) and the reader is still able to follow the story (unless you are like me as a little child, who didn't understand it and gave up in frustration).

For instance, in a sci-fi book I recently read called "Spacer and Rat" (an okay read, not fantastic in my opinion) they use several words like 'spacer' and 'atmo.' They never tell you what they mean, but as you read, you understand that 'spacer' is a person born in space on a space station and 'atmo' is short for atmosphere. Granted, these are examples that are pretty obvious when you read them, but as long as your words are understood in context, it should be fine.

I can't say much more because I have never read your piece. It might be a good idea to post the scene and find out what people have to say about your words. You can say that it is an experiment and that you would like people's opinions. I'm sure they would gladly oblige.

~GryphonFledgling

As long as what you are trying to say makes it to the reader. If the reader can understand what you are saying then it's okay. If the reader can't understand what you are saying then chances are they aren't going to finish your book.

This character is basically a walking dictionary. She uses big words, and when people look at her strangely, she recites the definition at them. For awhile I've been trying to find the actual words, but it's hard to find ones that fit with the scene. Thus far, I haven't made up any, because I think it would be better, even though, technically, no one is supposed to know what they mean anyway.

As long as the reader can figure out what you are trying to say this is fine. There are plenty of published authors that use this technique.

If you want her to be a walking dictionary then I advise against making the words up unless the story is not set in this world. It just confuses things and yourself. As for long words/unheard of words....Dictionary.com is quite good for general wordy stuff.

Alainna
xx

If she is like a walking dictionary, I assume she is smart. Making up words, in my opinion, makes her seem more juvenile. I'm not sure, just somebody walking around using fancy words and then throwing out one that isn't even a real words doesn't mix too well in my mind; I think you'd have to be a looser person than she is to make up words. (If that didn't make sense, sorry.)

Oh, one example came to mind, which won't help if you've never seen Friends, though: Phoebe (or however you spell her name) is really loose, the type of person who is always on her head and saying things like 'why, why would a parent name a child Bethal?' when everyone else is thinking about how terrible it is for someone to put an animal in some lab. She makes up words. Ross, on the other hand, is this very smart doctor. He uses big words that no one has ever heard of, and would never DREAM of making up a word.

Make sense? I hope so...

In the case of your character and her situation, I'd advise against making up words, too. If she's supposed to be very smart about words, having her make them up undermines that trait of hers, in my opinion, especially if it's a skill she's proud of. Instead of looking for words to fit a certain situation, however, why not try making a list of long/weird words and sticking them in whenever you can? There are so many great, unusual words with rather mundane meanings. One of my personal favourites is "defenestrate" -- meaning, "to throw out of a window".

In my own work, I sometimes use words that my spell-checker doesn't recognise, but I think my intended meaning should be fairly obvious, especially as most of them I use for onomatopoeia.