Writing How important glossary is for you?

[SirDogeTheFirst]

I am a novice writer who is trying to understand how to most effectively express the world I created to dear readers who spend their time reading my story.

Because of that glossary seems like the thing I needed. I can just write about new characters, items, creatures, etc. So when I add something new to my story, I can decrease the amount of explanation and focus more on plot and action, then people who might be interested in that new thing can read about it.

So, I want to ask. How often do you use the glossary, and do you think it is vital for world-building.

 

[EternalSunset0]

I don't think people typically go to it immediately, but I love the feature. Allows me to add some character sheets, profiles, and character art without needing them to intrude in the actual text in my story. Stuff like this that can be found in actual LNs but in portrait/profile form, kinda like those bestiaries or character journal/databases in JRPGs.

Actually, I think what I do with my volumes ends up being more of this when I think about it.

Then again, I say that about wanting art and tables to not intrude into the actual story text when I have plans to include actual insert-art in my work. Maybe in the future when I get better at drawing. The commissioned covers are enough expenses as they are right now lol.

 

[Biggest-Kusa-Out-There]

I'd say it depends on what kind of story you're writing. If you have 250 characters, 1000 locations, 15 types of cultivation levels (for example), character backstory, explanation of species, etc. it's very useful for the reades, as it helps them keep tabs on your story's progress. If you introduce a character in chapter 2 and then they show up in chapter 1500, readers may not remember them, so it'd be useful to have them in your glossary instead of the reader re-reading your entire fiction.

I use it a little, it's treated me well so far.

 

[Asami_Shirogane]

I have a whole goddamn dictionary to the right of me with a whole allotment of scribbled notes.

 

[Cipiteca396]

The glossary is good for things that you want to explain but don't want to put in the story. And for things that you do want to put in the story, but don't want to constantly explain every two weeks because you're writing at a snail's pace.

 

[skillet]

I don't know if anyone actually looks at mine except for me, but I use the glossary for the minor characters (that don't come up as often and thus can be forgotten more easily, as well as characters that are important to the world but are only mentioned here and there, like the name of the king and queen) and the names of countries/towns and stuff. My main characters aren't even on my glossary lol
The currency in the story is also not just "1 [fake currency name] = 1 dollar" or anything, so I put the calculations for the currency there too.

But yeah, I'm probably the only one who looks at that. Useful for when I forget my own settings! (Like how many miles one town was from the next, etc.) :D

 

[Ai-chan]

Ai-chan loves the feature, though Ai-chan rarely use it because Ai-chan is lazy. It's great in that you could make a glossary page, then link a word in the chapter to that page, allowing readers to see the relevant information with just a click.

 

[Echimera]

I'd suggest making a chapter dedicated to your character/s instead, since more people would see it that way. A good proportion of readers won't even bother to read your glossary.

I can't quite follow your logic here, tbh. The point of a glossary isn't that everybody sees/reads it but to provide an easily accessible place to look up stuff like who this character that's not showed up for 100 chapters was again or additional information an author might want to provide outside of the actual story.

While it's true that more people will see a dedicated chapter (and probably skip it to get to the next actual chapter), unless you put it as the first chapter, it'll be way harder to find it again when you have more than a few chapters afterwards compared to the actual glossary.

So if you feel that you want or even need something like this with a story, I don't see any advantage in a special chapter people will skip initially and have a hard time finding again later over a dedicated section on the story page that is way easier to set up, format, navigate and read on top of that.

Now, one thing that might make it even more accessible would probably be a quick-link to the glossary from a chapter, maybe next to or within the table of contents drop-down menu.

 

[SirDogeTheFirst]

I don't know if anyone actually looks at mine except for me, but I use the glossary for the minor characters (that don't come up as often and thus can be forgotten more easily, as well as characters that are important to the world but are only mentioned here and there, like the name of the king and queen) and the names of countries/towns and stuff. My main characters aren't even on my glossary lol
The currency in the story is also not just "1 [fake currency name] = 1 dollar" or anything, so I put the calculations for the currency there too.

But yeah, I'm probably the only one who looks at that. Useful for when I forget my own settings! (Like how many miles one town was from the next, etc.) :D

That's the sort of way I want to use glossary! To make people more connected with the world I created.

 

[BenJepheneT]

i forgot the glossary existed until this post reminded me of it

gonna need some sauce to go with my spagetthi buddy

 

[EternalSunset0]

i forgot the glossary existed until this post reminded me of it


gonna need some sauce to go with my spagetthi buddy

Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor

 

[_oinkchan]

I am a novice writer who is trying to understand how to most effectively express the world I created to dear readers who spend their time reading my story.

Because of that glossary seems like the thing I needed. I can just write about new characters, items, creatures, etc. So when I add something new to my story, I can decrease the amount of explanation and focus more on plot and action, then people who might be interested in that new thing can read about it.

So, I want to ask. How often do you use the glossary, and do you think it is vital for world-building.

Not really important for me, maybe for others.

 

[TotallyHuman]

Without it, I'd have to reread my own chapters after months of breaks

 

[RedHunter2296]

Well, I think it depends on the type of story, if it is going to do the typical story of romance at school with comedy, then yes, a glossary would be leftover because nobody will look at it.

Now if the story is about an isekai with a strong emphasis on politics and diplomacy, with several countries each with its own background, cities, internal factions, and important people such as noblemen or merchants. Well, a glossary can help you remember important things that people can forget from one week to another.

As for my novel, it is about creating a world where angels and demons exist in our world, but there are also things like politics and wars between nations. So the characters act in a certain way where there is information that is taken for granted for them but not for the reader, such as the causes that led to a war. Readers fell for me in the first chapters for this very reason, so I made a glossary as complete as possible and since then the complaints have stopped. So yes, it depends on the type of story that is a good idea or not.

 

[AliceShiki]

I tend to write mostly Slice of Life and Romance, so uhn... I honestly don't even know what I'd put in a Glossary? Character introductions for people that decided to take a break from reading the novel and now forgot who was who?

Dunno, I don't see much use for it on my stories, so I just ignore its existence altogether~

... I do have a notes document for myself with all my plans, character details and stuff though. I don't care if the readers forget most of the details about my characters since they often won't be important (or won't even be mentioned in the novel at all), but I need to make sure I stay consistent within my setting, so a notes document is important~

 

[Toripuru-S]

Oh wow ! I had completely glossed over the Glossary (pun intended? probably), I didn't even know it was something that could be added to...

Thanks for providing a very useful thread to stumble upon!

Shows how much I need to learn about the inner workings of this site . I came from Tapas which doesn't have anything like that at all (...or does it? now I'm questioning myself lol)

Note to self: In the future, use the Glossary as a potential dumping ground for the advanced card game rules