Can’t believe I’m already on week 7 of The Writer Blog Prompt Project. Today’s topic is Glossaries. Let’s go!

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G Is For Glosary

For those who don’t know, a glossary is an alphabetical list of terms with their definitions.

Not all fiction books have a glossary, they are often found in things like high fantasy, sci-fi and historical fiction.

The former, usually have glossaries due to unusual and/or terms that a reader may need defining. In the latter, it will have less “created” words or terms, but more ones that are no longer commonly used and thus readers may be unaware of what they mean.

Glossaries are found at the back of the book and can be a nice reference guide while reading.

I plan to have a glossary in my book due to the a number of terms that have specific meaning in my novel as opposed to their general use.

Glossaries can be useful for helping to clarify something before the readers moves on. Sometimes a term can appear that seems to change the context of a sentence or paragraph. Depending on what that terms means, in the context of the story, or even historically, as words can change or evolve their meaning, a glossary can be a great aid.

If you have a glossary in a physical book – I personally recommend including a table of contents. Many physical books no longer have tables for contents (whereas most ebooks do). However, this will let the reader know there is a glossary they can refer to.

Finding the glossary later, as you finish the book, can be a little frustrating – when it may have been more useful to know of its existence earlier. At least, that’s my personal opinion.

The same can be said for pronounciation guides. Let people know they are there before they read the whole book, mis-pronouncing the characters names in their heads. 🙂

I love a good glossary. But then again, I am a sucker for all the extra bits and bats that can be added to a book.

One series that has excellent glossaries in the back is Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time books.

What are your thoughts on glossaries?

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Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this article. If you aren’t joining the Project, let me know your own thoughts about Glossaries in the comments below!

Next week’s topic is Hybrid

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