Post by Hollow, Sky, Laurel, Jay, Rye on Nov 27, 2014 16:26:18 GMT
To borrow the words of William Safire, this is a good rule to follow in just about everything. It is said that the greatest writer is he or she would says the most by writing the least - something I haven’t yet gotten the hang of. Even Mary Poppins has two cents to add: “Enough is as good as a feast”.
For Warriors, this boils down to a simple concept. If a suffix exists that says what you want to about your cat, use it. Do not go inventing another one. That’s just silly. Logically, these are cats - how many synonyms do they really need? Fair enough, this isn’t real, and there’s a lot of things in Warriors that would never happen, but the logic still stands.
For example;
The suffix -wing is a body part, but not one traditionally found on a cat. According to most users of the suffix, it means a “highly agile” character, often good at climbing, jumping and catching birds. This is essentially what -tail means as well, and as a tail is a body part native to a cat, and a wing is not, it is better to use -tail.
Some people would argue that by having a more unusual suffix makes their cat more original. This is probably true but there is such a thing as going too far. Furthermore, the traditions of the clans have been going for a while - there’s nothing wrong with having an “ordinary” name. The clan doesn’t survive of the talents of one, but the cooperation of many. I doubt any queen is going to care whether or not the prefix she chooses for her kit is popular; it’s the prefix that she likes for her kit, and that’s that.
I do suggest, however, avoiding having two cats with the same prefix in the same clan.
Over the history of the clans, there have probably been many cats with the same name, just like how many people in the world have the name Aaron or Susan. It doesn’t make you any less for having a “common” name. Why would it make your character any less?
And that’s thirteen rules written.
For Warriors, this boils down to a simple concept. If a suffix exists that says what you want to about your cat, use it. Do not go inventing another one. That’s just silly. Logically, these are cats - how many synonyms do they really need? Fair enough, this isn’t real, and there’s a lot of things in Warriors that would never happen, but the logic still stands.
For example;
The suffix -wing is a body part, but not one traditionally found on a cat. According to most users of the suffix, it means a “highly agile” character, often good at climbing, jumping and catching birds. This is essentially what -tail means as well, and as a tail is a body part native to a cat, and a wing is not, it is better to use -tail.
Some people would argue that by having a more unusual suffix makes their cat more original. This is probably true but there is such a thing as going too far. Furthermore, the traditions of the clans have been going for a while - there’s nothing wrong with having an “ordinary” name. The clan doesn’t survive of the talents of one, but the cooperation of many. I doubt any queen is going to care whether or not the prefix she chooses for her kit is popular; it’s the prefix that she likes for her kit, and that’s that.
I do suggest, however, avoiding having two cats with the same prefix in the same clan.
Over the history of the clans, there have probably been many cats with the same name, just like how many people in the world have the name Aaron or Susan. It doesn’t make you any less for having a “common” name. Why would it make your character any less?
And that’s thirteen rules written.