Glossaries & terminology
A glossary is a reader service, not a dumping ground. The useful version answers the question a reader actually has, at the moment they have it, without spoiling anything they have not reached yet.
These guides cover deciding whether a book needs one, choosing what goes in it, writing entries that stay spoiler-free, and keeping the invented vocabulary behind it consistent.
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Reader-Facing Appendices
What goes in the back, and what should not.
Appendices Readers Actually Read
What gets opened, and what does not.
A Glossary for a Shared Universe
One vocabulary, many authors.
A Pronunciation Guide for Invented Names
Decide once, write it down, use it everywhere.
Publishing Your Glossary on Your Website
The reference material, doing a second job.
A Reader Wiki Versus a Glossary
Two ways to publish a world, and what each costs.
Spoiler Levels in Reference Material
One source, several editions, cut at different points.
How Readers Actually Use a Glossary
One entry, mid-scene, in a hurry. Build for that.
Do Readers Skip Glossaries
The objection, answered honestly.
A Glossary in an Ebook Versus Print
Two formats, two designs, one source.
Linking Glossary Entries in an Ebook
The mechanics of a glossary a reader can reach.
Glossary Placement and Navigation
Where it sits, and how a reader reaches it.
A Glossary for a Dystopian Novel
The jargon is the point, which changes what a glossary should do.
A Glossary for Military Science Fiction
Ranks, units and acronyms, for readers who know the real ones.
A Glossary for a Nautical Novel
Real technical vocabulary, and a readership that checks it.
A Glossary for a Medical or Legal Thriller
Real jargon, explained without stopping the book.
A Glossary for Translated Fiction
Terms that stay in the source language, and why they do.
A Glossary for a LitRPG
Stats, skills and items are already a glossary. Here is how to hold it.
A Glossary for a Space Opera
Ships, factions and worlds at scale, and what readers will infer.
A Glossary for Epic Fantasy
The largest term counts in fiction, organised to be usable.
A Glossary for Historical Fantasy
Real period vocabulary beside invented terms, in one book.
A Glossary for a Mystery Series
What a returning reader needs, without giving the solutions away.
A Glossary for Romantasy
Heavy invented vocabulary in a genre that is read fast.
What Term Clustering Tells You
Related coinages grouped, and what a cluster of one tells you.
When an Invented Term Needs a Definition
Four questions that decide whether a coinage needs explaining.
Glossary Entry Length and Tone
Entries that read like the book, at a length readers will use.
A Glossary for a Standalone Novel
When one book alone justifies the work, and how short it should be.
A Glossary for a Trilogy
Growing one across three books without spoiling books two and three.
How to Build a Glossary From a Finished Draft
Backwards from the book rather than forwards from your notes.
Glossary vs Series Bible
Two documents, two audiences, and what must never cross between them.
Dramatis Personae for a Novel
When a book earns one, and how to write it without spoiling anything.
First Appearance Index for a Novel
Where each name and term enters, and why that one fact matters.
Extract a Character List From a Manuscript
A finished draft in, a cast list out, and what to do with it.
How to Build a Place List From a Draft
Harder to extract than characters, and more useful once you have it.
What Fifty Novels Do With Their Invented Vocabulary
Forty six novels were scanned, realist ones included. Every single one misspells its own invented vocabulary.
Translating Invented Terminology
Keep it, translate it, or coin a new one. Decide per term, before you commission.
Where to Put a Glossary in a Book: Front or Back?
A glossary at the front is read by people deciding whether to buy the book.
How to Write Glossary Definitions
A reader consulting a glossary mid-scene wants a reminder, not an essay.
Glossary for a Box Set or Omnibus
A box set is often how new readers enter a series, which makes spoilers the real risk.
Writing Craft Terminology Glossary
Writers pick these up by inference and often mean different things by the same word.
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Glossaries & terminology, on your own manuscript.
One pass lists every name, place, faction and invented term in the book.