How To Make the Best Swears for Your Book

So I know that the blog has been quite review heavy recently, so I thought it was time to mix it up and write an article that wasn’t about a specific book. But what does that leave me with? Well, quite a lot. So I sat and thought about what to write, and I settled on something to help make your world more thorough and real. Now this may not apply to everyone, so I apologise in advance if this isn’t for you. But, hopefully we can all learn something along the way!

World building. Love it or hate it, it’s definitely an important step for most science fiction and fantasy writers. You need to make sure you know how your world fits together, how all the elements work and what its limitations are. Maybe you don’t like worldbuilding and you’re a writer that just dives in and discovers things along the way, and that’s cool too. (Some people may even be very envious of you!) But I think most people like to at least have some sort of plan before we go ploughing off into the relative unknown of our stories.

Now, there’s load of aspects on world building, and the scope of it can range between genres and stories. Of course on how much you is dependent on you as the author, but if you’re writing a fantasy novel set in your version of a paleolithic Japan then there won’t be much point in mapping out the whole solar system!

Anyway, that’s not the aspect of worldbuilding I want to talk about today. Although there will be a blog post on it in the future. Today I want to talk about mythology, folklore and how that might affect phrases and colloquialism.

I think that this aspect of worldbuilding is something that can really add an extra dimension to your world and really bring your work together. They say it’s the little things, and I think they’re right (I don’t know who they are though), it’s the small things like unique swears or phrases that can really make a difference. This also means that if you’re just using phrases from the real world but you’ve taken a lot of time to build the rest of your world it can be jarring for the reader and bring them out of the experience.

Let’s take an example of how a badly inserted phrase could do this, we’ll use ‘By Jove’. And we’ll be assuming for this example that the world the characters inhabit is a completely separate world to our own. It has different continents, different gods, and magic; a fairly standard, but separate, fantasy world.

Now maybe you have a gentlemanly character and you want to keep him regal in the eyes of your readers but he’s just been surprised for whatever reason. “By Jove” would be a good way to maintain the appearance of a gentleman, if the story took place in the normal world.

But because it’s a fully fledged fantasy universe in its own right, the phrase doesn’t make sense. The phrase ‘by Jove’ essentially means ‘by God’ but is derived from the Roman god Jupiter. So if we’ve got a world where none of these gods existed then what our gentlemanly character has done is just said a random nonsense word. Hardly conduct that will keep him gentlemanly in the eyes of his peers.

So that’s one example of how a simple phrase can be jarringly out of place if you’re creating your own world. Similarly if you had a science fiction universe and someone used that phrase, if you’re using the real world as a base, how far into the future are you? Would that phrase still be used? It’s barely been a few hundred years and it’s already practically disappeared from modern use, so will it still be here in a few hundred more?

Right so that’s an example of something to look out for, there might a phrase you think nothing of putting in but it has its basis in something that you just don’t have in your universe. That said, don’t go too crazy with this, I like to think that if you’re reading a sci-fi or fantasy novel you can think of it being translated into something we can understand so I wouldn’t worry overly much.

But let’s look at an example of something you can create and hopefully give greater depth to your world.

We’re going to take the paleolithic Japan that I mentioned earlier as a random example, going through some aspects of the world we can create phrases and oaths that reflect the world the characters grew up in.

This story is going to be set at the end of the last ice age, so after a quick bit of research into the period and the area we know that Japan was connected to the mainland at this point and the general habitat would be forests and woodland for what is now Japan and tundra-like steppes for the bridge.

Paleolithic Japan, the black lines show the modern day countries

So, we have a few facts about the world our characters inhabit: There’s been a permafrost for longer than living memory; there’s deep forests in mainland; there’s wide open, almost barren, plains reaching far to the north, and they used mainly stone tools. By taking just these three facts about the world we can create a few phrases for our characters to use that will reflect the world they come from.

The permafrost can be used with regards to tenacity, stubbornness or for something that’s never going to happen, for example something like: “I’ll let you go when the ice melts!” in a similar vein to “when pigs fly.” You could use the ice and/or stone aspects for exclamations, perhaps: “Melted ice, boy! Get back here!” or “Broken stone that hurts!

These are just a couple of quick examples, but you can see how taking the aspects of the world that you have created and your characters inhabit can really add an extra dimension to your writing. It will really help to take the reader out of their world and firmly plant them into yours.

You could also use a similar technique to subtly suggest to readers that a particular character is from a different cultural background than those around him. If this strange character is using phrases and words that are strange to the people around him and alien to the setting then you can hint that the character is far travelled.

Anyway! I’m rambling now really. But hopefully from this you can see how these little touches can bring depth to your work and really hold the readers close.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and we shall of course be posting more in the very near future! In the meantime, good hunting!

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Rivers of London Review

Okay, considering that I thoroughly enjoy The Dresden Files, I suppose it shouldn’t come as a shock that I enjoyed Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. Another first person urban fantasy, magical detective novel, but this time set in London. For anyone reading in American it’s possible that you’ve seen it under the guise of the title: Midnight Riot. (As a side note, I personally much prefer the British cover for Rivers of London, for some reason the Midnight Riot just strikes me as the kind of cover you’d find on a children’s magic spy novel. But maybe that’s just me!)

I mean, take a look at it. It's a superb cover

The story follows Peter Grant, a probationary constable as he finishes his two year probationary period and as he deftly avoids becoming a member of the Case Progression Unit (to quote Aaronovitch “we do paperwork so real coppers don’t have to”) ends up being apprenticed to Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the only wizard in Britain.

I think I got an extra dimension of enjoyment out of this book because I work in London. So whenever there was mention of somewhere I recognised, have walked past, or even the tube line I got a little thrill of excitement (it’s silly I know). And also because it seems to have some nice self-deprecating humour in it, and what good British citizen doesn’t enjoy some of that?

Anyway, I know you’re here for one reason and one reason only, you dirty scoundrels, for a book review! So let’s get to it!

Firstly, I want to talk about what stood out to me for this book, and that’s the writing style. It’s a first person narrative and isn’t overly verbose, if anything it’s the opposite. Slightly jarring at first, Aaronovitch’s writing style doesn’t dwell on every little detail, it doesn’t take the reader by the hand and guide them through the story with exquisite detail and imagery. The writing style is closer to what you would get if someone were actually telling you a story. I would like to say now, this is definitely not a bad thing and very well suited to the character and the story, it just took a little getting used to.

What I mean by that is that occasionally you’ll read sentences or paragraphs that skip over a sizeable chunk of time filled with activity. In a lot of books the reader might feel that this is cheating them of the narrative, but I think that in this particular book Aaronovitch has used this technique in a rather dashing fashion. But why? Because being a police officer often isn’t fun, isn’t adventurous and is in fact rather dull. Of course I don’t want to belittle what people involved in law enforcement do in any way, but it’s just not the sort of thing you want to read about in a story. So instead of reading laborious passages in which Peter Grant, the main character, sifts through CCTV footage or logs in to computer systems or what have you, Aaronovitch just gives us what we need to know. We don’t need to know what video files he was looking at, or which folder he delved into, but we find out what he did and what he found.

As well as this, Aaronovitch scatters his writing with humour and it all comes off in a deliciously wicked way. There are definitely chuckles to be had along the way as we follow our main character through London, the underground and dealing with supernatural creatures of one sort or another. Aaronovitch, I think, manages to capture something of British humour, the kind of thing that makes you give everyone a wide, cautious berth whilst simultaneously having a sense of fierce camaraderie.

The London that we find ourselves exploring along with Peter Grant is a fascinating mix of almost forgotten London mythology along with the exciting or humdrum life of mundane London (and by mundane here I don’t mean boring, it’s definitely not boring, just not magic). But within Rivers of London we only really get a glimpse of the magical London that Aaronovitch has created. On the rounds with Nightingale, through Peter Grant’s eyes we see ghosts, trolls and other magical beings that can’t be cleanly categorised. And with Peter Grant’s feet firmly planted within both the magical and the mundane world by the end of the novel, I most certainly look forward to seeing how London transforms itself in the coming books.

Conflict is key to most stories, and Rivers of London is no different. We are thrown straight in with it as the story begins with Peter Grant as he looks after a particularly grisly crime scene when all the other coppers have left. And then almost before anything else has a chance to happen, Peter Grant is whisked away under the wing of Inspector Nightingale to embrace the strange and uphold the peace. Aaronovitch keeps the story rolling and definitely picks up the pace as the story comes to its conclusion.

Overall, I would say that Rivers of London is a thoroughly amusing and enjoyable read with a little adventure, lots of suspense and plenty of action. Although the writing style can jar a couple of times in the first few chapters it quickly and easily facilitates the story and is an apt style to portray British ambivalence in all its forms. Of course due to the first person perspective there is a lack of overt dealings with the other character’s motives, but Aaronovitch is skilled enough to throw us hints via body language and Peter Grant is clever enough to suss out how people are feeling.

You will immediately be drawn into this story as the strange and supernatural immediately jump out from the page and draw you to the next chapter. The pace is always increasing as storylines intertwine, jump free and twist and turn all over place. I would strongly recommend this book as it is a thoroughly enjoyable read with unique story and a witty approach. 

So that's it for now scribblers! I hope you enjoyed this review, and we'll be back with some more excellent content soon! I know that the blog has been review heavy of late so hopefully is the next week or two we'll be back to giving you a mix of tips, reviews and other thoughts!

In the meantime; good hunting!

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The Dangerous Game of Leap-Shark

Welcome back scribblers, scratchers and word processor tappers!

Today, I want to talk about jumping over sharks. This isn’t going to be a post about encouraging you to jump over sharks mind you, it’s more about knowing your story’s limitations, what you can do and what your audience expect of you.

But what do I mean? And why am I talking about sharks!?

Well, the term ‘jumping the shark’ generally means to do something so audacious and out there that it can only signal a decline. Originally this was referred to only with regards to television but it has since been expanded to encompass a wide range of topics and media.

Okay, so that still doesn’t really explain why I’m talking about sharks. The term ‘jumping the shark’ was coined by John Hein and it refers to an episode of Happy Days in which Fonzie, as a test of his courage, literally jumps over a shark whilst using water skis. For Happy Days this supposedly marked a gradual decline in the show’s creativity and inevitably led to the cancellation of the show.

Yeah I just jumped a shark, so what?

One of the things that I love about The Dresden Files series is that you really feel like Harry Dresden is pushed to his absolute limits. You (both the reader and Harry) find out what Harry is willing to do to protect those he loved and do what he can to save them.
Now, I will avoid spoilers, but at the end of Changes I really wasn’t sure where Jim Butcher was going to go with it. The ending was an absolute explosion of emotional, physical and magical excitement and trauma. And maybe it was that, but I really felt like the next instalment Ghost Story would have been better suited for a short story. I started reading it but found it very difficult to get into the story, or re-engage with the characters. To be honest, I skipped a large part of the middle and didn’t feel like I’d missed much.

So why am I bringing this up?

Well I read something recently that made me think of this. Unfortunately it was The Dresden Files. As much as I do enjoy the books, I recently read (I say read for The Dresden Files I listen to the audiobooks as read by James Marsters) Ghost Story and I was quite disappointed.

What I think was the problem is that Ghost Story was more about the other characters within the Dresden-verse. That’s not so much a problem but I don’t think that it merited its own novel for it.

Having said all of that, I’m a sucker for a series so I thought I’d pick up the next book Cold Days just to see if it was indeed a ‘jump the shark’ situation, or if that book was just miss instead of a hit.

It was a slow start, but a better one. And then, after a good few chapters, Butcher really stepped up the game. The storyline is back to being something Dresden isn’t sure if he can handle, but knows if he doesn’t the consequences will be dire. Cold Days definitely puts to rest the worry that Butcher’s books would face a slow and gradual decline as the series went on. Not only does he lay these fears to rest, but as far as I’m concerned he has definitely introduced enough plot points at this juncture to justify the continuing series, and there are also other elements that Butcher has brought forward from the history of the series that demonstrate a thorough overarching plan that has been in place for a long time.

I don’t think that Ghost Story was a badly written book, I just think that the story itself and how it was presented was not as interesting to me as it could have been. As I said, what I love about The Dresden Files is the tension that comes from Harry Dresden’s character and how far he’s willing to go. But in Ghost Story it was more about the supporting cast, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just not my thing.

So what I would say to you, dear readers, is the following: Be careful where you’re taking your story. It might be that something you think will be a really interesting direction might put off some of your readers.

Be careful of jumping the shark, just because something’s awesome doesn’t necessarily mean you should do it. Just because jumping over a shark looks cool it might not leave you any room to develop your characters or story further, it might not even be a relevant thing to have happen!

I’m not saying you shouldn’t be ambitious in your writing and the scope of your story, just make sure when it’s awesome, it’s awesome for the right reasons! And don’t  be put off keeping up with The Dresden Files! I still think they are a thoroughly fantastic read, and to have one book in the series that didn’t quite stack up out of a total of fourteen is no mean feat! But if you don’t like Ghost Story, I would recommend picking it up at Cold Days because it definitely gets better and so much bigger (in such a good way).

I hope that makes as much sense as it can without me revealing anything about the plot! Beware spectacle for spectacle's sake!

Well that’s all for now fellow scribblers! I wish you all well, and until next time: Good hunting!

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