I see many complaints about the stereotypical races found in fantasy. Elves who sing to the birds and can shoot a wing off a fly from three hundred yards away without looking. Beardy dwarves who heft axes bigger than their bodies and defy sadistic dragons for a bit of gold.
Today I’m delighted to introduce fellow writer and historical fiction lover, Jack Shannon. Jack approached me with the idea for an article…
Writing fantasy can so often leave you caught up in a web of your own making. Most fantasy involves a secondary world, that is a world different from our own. Granted, it doesn’t have to be totally original, but it raises the question: how different should we make it? Should we scrap everything we know and play God and build from scratch? Should we shape and morph things that already exist? Or should we keep what everyone finds familiar?
These questions can be asked when it comes to inventing anything for our worlds, but one such area in which it’s particularly prevalent is with language. In this new world of ours, does everyone speak the same language?
