 Fantasy: September 06, 2006 Issue [#1246] |
  Fantasy
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The question asked in my last newsletter was: "In a world of dwarfs, humans, elves, orcs and dragons, all intelligent races, should they be capitalized?" If you missed it or want to see the results, here's the poll: "Invalid Item" .
Reader responses were varied, having good arguments for both sides of the issue.
Raine
The reason I say no is this: racial ethnicity on Earth is based on national origin (ie: Italian, Irish ect.). Because the names come from proper nouns (Italy, Ireland) they are capitalized. Unless your trolls come from Trollia, it shouldn't be capitalized anymore than dog, cat or horse is. It becomes a species definition rather than an ethinicity. Make sense?
nomlet 
Good poll question. Now that the question is posed... ... I'm really not sure. I don't have the books with me, but in the Chronicles of Narnia, I believe that Lewis made the distinction between "a horse" and "the Talking Horses." Capitalization seems to come packaged with the powers of speech in that case.
It's interesting though that I wouldn't think to capitalize Humans unless there are other races on an equal footing, be they Elves or Aliens. If I were to write a story strictly about hobbits, I would capitalize Hirfoots and Tallfellows, but not the generic term "hobbit."
firefaery
I have something to say about capitalizing magical races:
Do you usually capitalize "human"?
These are also races or species like everything else. It doesn't make sense to capitalize them. We don't do it normally. Or at least that is my opinion. :)
Eric the Fred
I usually capitalize all races in the context where other races are around, and capitalize "human" as well while in that context. I feel it changes the rules, when other intelligences enter the mix. Races become something akin to nationalities.
Griffer
It depends on the context in which you are writing. Yes, and ethnic group should be capitalized, but it also depends on refernces. I wuld say that these names would not be capitalized if they are being treated in a "sub-normal" level. For example, in the sentence,
"The group of adventurers awoke to find themselves surrounded by a swarm of goblins."
The goblins wuldn't be capitalized (I think) because they are nt being treated as a proper noun, but as something inhuman. The word could easily be replaced by "rats" or any other fantasy monster.
Now, if the group is recognized as a social group, like an organization f humane beings, then the word becomes capitalized. example,
"The Goblins in the city rioted because of the prejudice they felt from the Human majority."
Now the goblins are recognized as something other than a "thing." Now that they are being represented with human qualities, rather than a band of savages, the word goblins becomes proper. An example of both cases would be,
"The chaos began when the orcs attacked the Dwarvan stronhold."
That's the way I would difine it at least.
Of course, it's probably safer to simply capitalize every instance of the words, just to be safe, because the line is fine. Or non-existent.
Lorien
Races are not capitalized--not since the 18th century, at least! But languages certainly are, as are nationalities. So, to borrow from Tolkien, elven (race) would not be capitalized, but Elvish (language) would be, and Mirkwood Elf (nationality, sort of) would be too. I'd use common usages as a rule of thumb: American would be capitalized, Swahili would be capitalized, but frog, say, would not.
Fey is a different category all together. I've seen both ways on Fey, and it seems like it's up to the writer/publisher on how it appears. Personally, I capitalized it in the only story I ever wrote that used the word, but that was because it was more medieval than fantasy, and I wanted its use to stick out. I'd say that one's up to you.
Thank you to everyone who responded. 
I've delved into some published fantasy novels by well-known authors to see how they handled the issue.
Chronicles of Narnia: Yes, intelligent races are capitalized. ex. Talking Horses
Dragonlance: no, races are not capitalized. ex. draconian, elf, human, dwarf
Lord of the Rings: formal name for race is capitalized, but common names for them are not. ex. Man, Elf, Hobbit… Orc is capitalized, but the colloquial term that Hobbits use for them, "goblin", is not.
Harry Potter: not capitalized. ex. human, goblin, fairy, centaur, werewolf
My own observations:
Doing research for this, I came upon a distinction that hadn't been brought up. The key scientific difference between a race and a species is that races can breed with all members of the species they belong to, and most species generally include several races or subspecies as biologists call them. According to grammar and scientific rules, races are capitalized, species are not. Examples from our world: African American, Caucasian, Asian, all are capitalized, whereas human is not. The species dog is not capitalized, but the proper breed names - German Shepherd, Pit Bull, Terrier – are capitalized. I think we've been asking the question all wrong. If, in your world, elves and humans can breed, then they would be classified in the same species. Thus, the race would be Human, Elf, etc. If, however, they cannot breed, then they would be different species. The species, not races, would be classified human and elf.
Under this rule, here is how it would play out, using my world as an example. We have two groups: fey and human. They can interbreed, so we'll consider them both of the species humanoid. I don't like how Human looks, so instead we'll use Mankind as the proper race, and human as an informal term. An example of a nationality would be Dashevonans (people of Dashevona). By the same rules, Fey would be capitalized, but the subraces of djinn, dryad, undine, and sylph would not be.
In conclusion, you do want to have a set rule for the capitalization in your world. I wish there was a set rule, as it would make this a much easier issue. Judging from my research, there is no consistent method in published novels. Whether you choose to follow the logic of scientific classification or create reasons unique to your world, the most important things is to be consistent.
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Reader Comments from last month's newsletter:
Robert Waltz 
In my opinion, the "write what you know" thing can be misinterpreted easily. As you point out, if you find yourself in a situation where you're writing about something you don't know, learn it. Writers can't afford to ever stop learning. I once wrote a story about autism. I knew next to nothing about it before I started; now I know a good bit. Not as much, of course, as the parents of an autistic child, but enough to work it into the story. Point is, yes, write what you know, but don't let lack of knowledge stop you, either
Thank you for sharing a personal example.
Kender
First of all, Congradulations again! Second, although I see your point, I think that when most people say that you don't write what you know in fantasy, they're refering to the fact that you don't have to know about dragons to write about one. As long as you know they're scally flesh eating lizards that are usually giant and sometimes breathe fire as well as fly, then you can really make the rest up. So I think you're making a statement over something else then what people mean. I do love your point on the terror though!
That's a good point. Imagination should not be forgotten, just don't overlook the benefits of using knowledge to add to your story.
bazilbob
Good point. Thank you. :)
You're welcome.
Once upon a WellToasted...
Emerald, your piece on "write what you know" was not only an excellent introduction to you as our new Fantasy Editor, but an informative and insightful piece, as well. Nothing too complicated (or, if so, you simplified it both plainly and succinctly). The three aspects are great tools to not only stick w/ a subject, but branch out, as well. Thanks.
Thank you and you're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed my first newsletter.
dogfreek21
Emerald Enchantress,
Thank you for this interesting newsletter! I talked to an author just yesterday and, though "write what you know" never came up between us, she did mention a little bit about it.
She said, that to write fantasy it's good to visit fantastical places.
 We were on a cruise ship and going around one of the fantastical, beautiful coastlines in the world. I'd say THAT is experience for writing fantasy!
DF
My point exactly! Now if only I could convince my husband that a cruise was necessary to my writing career. Lol.
Thank you for all the wonderful and thoughtful comments. We editors love to hear your feedback!
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