no matter the chaos, that work thing continues...

[lagilman]

Back in touch with a client who took time off for a family crisis, just in time for me to do my "must take a week off" thing. A dance of bad timing, but there's nothing for it. Meanwhile, am writing again. So happy about that. And not just because it means my brain's forgiven me the coughing and come back home.

One of the things that you have to do when creating a new culture is also come up with new words, sometimes for new concepts, sometimes for old concepts that require new slang. It's fun, and yet also a damned difficult thing, because for every term ("grok") that works perfectly, there are ten dozen that not only don't work, but actively cause snickers among those who hear/read them.

(this is akin to coming up with culture-specific and reasonable-sounding proper names, which is another long post altogther)

I managed to come up with a term today for a slightly rude act that sounded completely inoffensive to outside ears, if slightly suggestive of not-polite-behavior if you were thinking that way. Which is exactly what I needed, and was born not out of my sitting there thinking what word to use, but the character mouthing off to another character, and my fingers typing the word as he mouthed it.

Which means it fits, and is fitting, and hopefully won't make readers snicker. At least, not in ways that weren't intended. Small things, these details, but important ones.

Meanwhile, my "g" key seems to be broken. Or at least cranky. Yesterday it was my tab key. Give it up, guys, I'm not buying a new laptop right now.


Also? Thank you to AMC, for repeatedly showing "Blazing Saddles," uncut and unbeeped, while I was sick. Nothing cheers a sick meerkat up like classic Mel Brooks. Especially if it includes Gene Wilder.

Comments

[chaoticgoodnik.livejournal.com]

I've put down books I was thinking of buying because of a "Wow, what an incredibly dumb name" reaction. Of course, I may be (and probably am) extremely weird in that regard.

[lagilman]

I don't think that's weird (or at least not extremely weird) at all. If you're going to ask someone to believe in a world where X and Y are not as we know it here on earth, you need to give them something to stand on. A name is the most basic thing, an identifier that places a person within the framework of their society. If we postulate, for example, a complicated multi-generational society aboard a colony ship launched from 2070 Earth, a name will place the character's identity within that ship's society at the same time it gives us an idea of where that society came from on Earth. If the author decides that the protag's name is Ba'dunk.... well, either they've gotten some really bad D&D software mixed with the Book of Baby Names, or something's hinky in Denmark. Either way, the reader's not going to give the author many pages to explain.

[lianneb.livejournal.com]

You could just replace the keyboard.

Option 1 - most regular keyboards can plugged into a laptop

Option 2 - after breaking the 'g' key on my laptop keyboard, I went to Future Shop (here in Canada) and they were able to replace the keyboard (it had to be the whole keyboard, not just the key, unfortunately). Amazingly, they had no code in their system for keyboards at the service desk, so they charged me labour, and threw the keyboard in for free.