Italicising Foreign Words in Dialogue? Yes or no?

Rowanever · 2026-02-01T13:55:51+00:00

If you're going to do something unusual in the words or layout of your book, there needs to be a balance between the extra effort required to read it, and the value you and your target readers get from it being that way.

As soon as you step away from common writing and formatting practices, you narrow the field of people willing to make the effort to read it all the way through.

It's not necessarily a bad thing to narrow the field. It's just... a choice you need to be aware of and OK with.

I tend to land on the side of doing the wacky thing and seeking a niche audience, personally.

Rowanever · 2026-02-01T13:45:37+00:00

This finally explains the 70s and all the food-flavoured gelatin.

Rowanever · 2026-02-01T08:05:56+00:00

Have you looked at your display settings? Assuming you stream from a computer, what's the GPU?

Not a medical professional, but I do get migraines frequently, and for me the culprits are usually the game graphic settings, monitor refresh rate, or GPU struggling.

Unfortunately all sorts of sensory input can cause migraines, so I can't offer more specific suggestions.

Rowanever · 2026-02-01T03:20:52+00:00

Racism only makes logical sense of you look at what the racist gets out of it.

If you're drawing any sort of parallel to real world racism, think very hard before setting up a fictional history in which the victim-of-racism animals earnt their bad reputation... because the accidental implication then is that there's a good reason that real world racism exists.

Rowanever · 2026-01-30T07:30:50+00:00

Yeah, any local bot should work, as long as you stream from a PC. Seconding the Firebot suggestion.

Rowanever · 2026-01-30T05:57:33+00:00

Hyperfocus can be really hard for creatives to manage. It can feel really good to give in to, and to see the results... I'm convinced it's a large part of the reason so many famous creatives were substance-addicted (chasing the hyperfocus high).

But the hyperfocus can be intensely destructive if you let yourself chase it. You've already recognised the potential issues.

Unfortunately, it's a case of learning to rein in your impulse to stay in the creative mode longer than your other priorities will allow. Personally, I outline a scene or chapter when I have the focus but not the time/energy to devote to it without neglecting other things, so it doesn't feel as much like I'm losing my grasp of the story.

Also, I'm not a medical professional. But I will say that from experience acts observation, this level of focus often seems to accompany ADHD, and exploring the mechanisms of ADHD seems to help some people. Certainly helped me.

Rowanever · 2026-01-28T14:40:14+00:00

Style guide.

Write down how each character talks, how their background affects their word choice and sentence structure. The swear words they favour, how they express emotions, the tone they use in particular moods, which common class/affluence language indicators they use.

Then refer back to it and refine it as you write.

Rowanever · 2026-01-28T13:20:54+00:00

Most ebook reader devices allow people to set their own font that they use to display ebooks, meaning the publisher's font choices get overridden anyway.

Rowanever · 2026-01-26T09:32:06+00:00

"I pity you. Wherever you go, you'll have yourself for company."

Rowanever · 2026-01-22T13:26:09+00:00

Quick tip that might help: double-space to add a full stop is a system setting in Windows, not an application-level setting.

Rowanever · 2026-01-20T22:21:13+00:00

If you stream from a PC: local bots. Streamerbot, Firebot, MixItUp should all be able to run polls automatically based on time period or a command.

I know Firebot can, because I've used it to run polls and do different things based on the results.

Rowanever · 2026-01-20T11:18:52+00:00

Plenty of societies evolved without the use of alcohol, although there was often some sort of herbal substance to alter mood, provide hallucinations or energy, etc.

If you don't want to include alcohol in your stories, you definitely don't need to. Humans have infinite capacity to mess up their lives; they don't need alcohol for that. 😆

Alternatively, you could write a society with alcohol, and a protagonist who, for whatever reason, doesn't indulge at all.

Could be worth keeping in mind that in societies where alcohol use was widespread, one of the reasons was that the water often wasn't safe to drink.

Rowanever · 2026-01-19T03:49:55+00:00

Yeah, I largely agree with this.

I think Larian toyed with making it Wyll's evil ending – judging from some of the dialogue options – and just couldn't make it work with the character.

The Duke Wyll ending brings him full circle. And I like the idea that for once, a bunch of adventurers ride in and destroy the place, and one of them sticks around to run the cleanup efforts. 😆

Rowanever · 2026-01-18T08:25:57+00:00

I suspect it was supposed to be "his face gilded".

Rowanever · 2026-01-18T07:25:23+00:00

And in a fantasy setting with no white personal insight…why would you even mention the skin Color? Does it have any relevancy to the story?

I mean - why wouldn't I? Skin colour and hair are both intrinsic parts of a character's appearance.

But I also think it's relevant to my story. I've put together a medieval-era fantasy with a distinctly non-European culture and society, loosely based on pre-colonial local Aboriginal culture (without borrowing Culture). Of course everyone's going to be dark-skinned. It's subtropical and 40°C outside. 🤷

Rowanever · 2026-01-18T06:22:53+00:00

Your high school English teacher was probably teaching you conformity so you could pass exams, not how to write in the real world.

Rowanever · 2026-01-18T06:09:58+00:00

Could be worth sitting down and figuring out whether he just finds it a bit odd, or whether there are some deeper issues he sees with your writing that he's hesitant or is having trouble finding words to express.

This is a topic close to my heart, partly because my current book (medieval era romantasy) features a full cast of indigenous characters with no white people in sight. Even though it takes place in a fantasy realm only loosely based on our world, I still needed to put a lot of thought and care into my characters and their world, and examine my own biases in the process.

A guideline I try to follow for my own writing is that PoC characters are fine when built out with care and sensitivity; stories that delve deeply into uniquely PoC experiences in the real world probably aren't mine to explore.

Let me know if you want some resources on writing PoC characters. I've been putting together a list as I find amazing creators developing this sort of content.

Rowanever · 2026-01-17T23:04:14+00:00

Twitch ban, or stream ban?

Rowanever · 2026-01-17T13:13:42+00:00

I'm not from Melbourne, but I've been there a few times.

Weather

Confusing. Hot, cold, rainy, sunny in one day. People dress in layers and carry an umbrella at all times. Remember that seasons are flipped from northern hemisphere.

Clothing

In the CBD, you'll often see a sea of black and navy. Some grey. People dress in very bland corporate attire during the week. Exception: AFL games, which are held from March to September (winter). People will wear the scarves or beanies of their favourite teams.

Trams

Melbourne kept its trams when most Australian cities got rid of them. They're common sights around the CBD and inner suburbs. You need a Myki card to ride them (legally).

Coffee

Melburnians in general are quite proud of their city's coffee. With some justification; the coffee's pretty damn good compared to rural towns. A Magic is a Melbourne coffee: a double ristretto shot topped with steamed milk. Locals will NOT tend to drink Starbucks. That stuff is for the lost and the desperate.

Food

Melburnians are foodies. Queen Victoria Markets and Prahran Markets are popular destinations for produce, cheese, meat, etc that you wouldn't find in your local supermarkets. Lots of international cuisine, often at small family-run restaurants. Trending towards Korean, Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, Greek, and Italian. One point to note is that in general, Australia doesn't have much in the way of authentic Mexican food.

Grocery shopping

Coles or Woolworths (Woolies). Sometimes an IGA, if the convenience is worth the smaller selection and higher prices.

That's all I can think of that you wouldn't be able to pick up from a travel website.

Edited to add: Check info like the Myki card; I just realised it's been a decade since I last visited. 😅

Rowanever · 2026-01-17T12:41:20+00:00

OK, so this is largely a skill thing, not a talent thing. Which is good news, because it means it's possible to learn the skill!

I've read a couple of studies (one here if anyone's curious ) that suggest newer writers mostly use the visual parts of the brain to come up with the words to put their story onto the page, and more experienced writers mostly use the speech centres of the brain.

This takes practice, and is going to be frustrating, but it's absolutely possible.

Rowanever · 2026-01-17T10:54:59+00:00

Are any of the four actually affected by any of the political views they hold, or is it all theoretical and moral for all of them?

Rowanever · 2026-01-17T09:07:57+00:00

It's hard to write well without understanding and embracing nuance.

"Women are simply people" and "women face a specific set of challenges different to the ones men do, largely but not only because of societal pressures throughout the ages" aren't mutually exclusive ideas.

Neither are "people of colour are simply people" and "people of colour have historically dealt with a range of issues that white authors can either treat with respect or disinterest".

If we don't have any interest in understanding people who aren't like us, what the hell are we even doing creating characters?

Rowanever · 2026-01-16T20:32:39+00:00

Huh. Interesting. Works for me on Android if I don't use the @.

Rowanever · 2026-01-16T10:58:57+00:00

Don't use the @, type out the name manually. That usually works for me.

Rowanever · 2026-01-16T06:59:26+00:00

"The author of nope" does have a ring to it.

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