Making Constructed Languages for use in my Fiction

Question: In the interest of being the best writer I can be... and a burning drive to not be outdone by Tolkien... I'm making constructed languages for use in my fictions. I'm going for complete and speakable languages, not just some code words or nonsense sounds. It's proving really challenging, but I saw that coming. My question is, once I have them ready, how much use is too much use in my story? Authors obviously work hard on their stories, and conlangers work hard on their languages. I'm a person that enjoys showing off my hard work. But can I have too much of a good thing? And how much translation should I provide? I mean, for example, there are a few scenes where a certain pair of characters are conversing in their native tongue simply for the pleasure of excluding the third character (a foreigner) from the conversation, but should the reader know what they're saying? I guess in short, I'm asking this: Once I have fictional languages ready for my fictional world, how would you suggest I use them? Much appreciated!

Answer: I would suggest you use other languages sparingly (as Tolkien did). Sure, some dedicated Tolkien fans take the trouble to learn to speak Sindarin, just as some dedicated Star Trek fans learn the Klingon language. But most readers don't want to go to that much effort, especially if it's the first time they're reading a book set in your fantasy world. Learning the language is readers will only do if they fall in love with your world and want to immerse themselves fully in it. In the first book, you don't want to frustrate them to the point they stop reading.

A few words and phrases of your constructed language may be enough to establish the language's existence, but I would avoid long passages. And I would make sure the reader can figure out what is being said from the context, or have the narrator translate.

The same applies for having characters converse in their native language. What's the point of including a long dialogue the reader won't understand? Even if it's not essential to the plot, after a line or two it becomes boring. You just want a little bit of the language to create an authentic feel. Switch back to English as quickly as possible or simply say that the characters spoke in their own language which the main character does not understand.

Translate words unless their meaning is obvious or you're trying to create a mystery (as in a puzzle that requires translation to solve). That's another reason to use the languages sparingly. Too much translating also makes the story drag.

All that said, having the language fully constructed can help in the writing, because all examples of the language will have an internal consistency. It can give the reader the sense that this is a real world they are entering, which can be a lot of fun.

Add a Fictional Language?

by Chelsea Lane
(Utah)

Question: What if you decide to add a fictional language that you've created and already finished perfecting it but don't know how to incorporate it into the book? Should I have one of the characters teach the way of the language like on Avatar or only show it when its necessary??

Answer: There is a guideline that the more work you make your readers do to follow the story, the more readers you will lose. Of course, how much work is too much depends on the genre. But even sophisticated readers will sometimes balk at Ulysses or The Faerie Queene.

If a reader feels like they have to learn a new language to understand the story, they may give up on it. The alternative for them is to keep flipping to the glossary or to earlier chapters to remind themselves what the words mean, which can be frustrating.

It's far safer for the writer to use just a few words of the language in contexts where they are translated or where the meaning is obvious.

Consider, that J.R.R. Tolkien created a number of new languages and dialects. Yet you can read The Lord of the Rings quite easily without feeling the need to master Sindarin, Quenya, Khuzdal, Entish, or the Black Speech. That's because Tolkien gives the reader only little tastes of these languages -- enough to create the feeling that there is a rich history and culture behind the story, but not so much as to detract from it. In fact, the time when ardent fans choose to learn one of Tolkien's fictional languages is usually after reading The Lord of the Rings, not before or while reading it.

If language or communication were integral to the story goal or theme, then you might consider constructing the story so that the reader must master the language as they read. However, as I say, you may lose some readers in the process.

An example that does work is the episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called "Darmok." In that story, the main character (Picard) must master a metaphorical style of alien speech in order to establish diplomatic relations. As Picard learns little pieces of the aliens language, so does the viewer. The result is that, in the final scene, when Picard speaks briefly to the aliens in their language, the viewer understands exactly what he is saying. However, Picard (and the viewer) only has to learn a handful of phrases, a very simple message.

If the language is simply part of the cultural landscape of your story, I'd be inclined to emulate Tolkien and use fictional language sparingly. A few words and phrases may be enough, or perhaps a short verse, if it is part of a mystery and gets translated at some point.

It's about keeping to a minimum the amount of work a reader must do for the sake of the story.

Create A New Language

by Marissa

Question: My book idea is fantasy and takes place in our world so most everything will be in English but I keep wanting the demons and monsters to have their own language. And most of the people wouldn't understand the language but I wanted one of my characters to. So would I have to actually create a new language, or some words and things from it, or can I just have the character understand then translate? I just don't know how to create a language I'm not good at it. Also 2 of the characters are assassins/spy type characters and was thinking they should have their own way of communicating and just recently I thought instead of giving them another language I could just make them talk backwards because most others wouldn't understand them but they would have been trained to learn how to speak that way so they could have full length conversations no problem. Would that be okay? Would it make sense? I wouldn't do full paragraphs in reverse it would just be a sentence or 2 and maybe them speaking normally then slip into it if someone was approaching them.

Answer: My feeling about invented languages is that a little bit can add authenticity, mystery, etc. but too much can frustrate many readers. If your readers have to work hard to learn/translate a foreign language, some may just give up on the story.

Sometimes point of view can solve many of the challenges. The main character's perspective is the reader's perspective, and you wouldn't allow a language barrier to keep your main character out of the story.

For instance, if your MC encounters people speaking a language he doesn't know at first, that can be useful in creating a mystery. As the MC is drawn into solving the mystery, so is the reader. But at some point, the language will be translated, or the characters will start speaking English, or the MC will quickly learn to understand them, because otherwise the story cannot progress. It will be halted by frustration for both MC and reader.

Having a third character translate can work for brief passages, but can feel awkward if the foreign-speaker is an important character, since the language barrier would prevent direct interaction.

If the MC learns the foreign language, then you will simply provide the conversations in English and make clear that they are speaking the foreign tongue.

As for creating a language, so you can provide samples...

I rather like your idea of backwards speech, because it will seem mysterious at first, but a reader who wants to figure out what is being said can take the trouble to work it out. (Incidentally, Michael J. Anderson, the actor who played The Man From Another Place on the TV series Twin Peaks said he once taught himself to speak backwards and used it as a secret language with his friends. In came in handy in the series.)

However, there are many other tricks you could use -- from a simple letter substitution, to straight out "making words up." Some writers will imitate the grammar rules of an existing language other than English. How far you want to go with this depends on your interests and how much it adds to the story.

Again, if this is supposed to be a mystery to the MC character, and it's only a few sentences, that's probably okay. Once the MC learns the language, the dialogue should be in English.

If all else fails and you're not comfortable making up words from another language, you can sometimes simply explain that the MC overhears characters speaking a language he doesn't recognize. You might even describe how the language sounds to him without quoting it.

Best of luck.

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