You’ve evoked an imaginary world. You want the speech of its denizens to sound human and true…but if you use contemporary slang the Norns sound like Valley Girls. What now?
Here’s a solution:
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…..“It hums so loud, Kat. I can’t not hear it.” …..“Is—is it death?” …..“It’s greater than death.” …..I tried to think of something greater than death, and could not.……………………………—Listening at the Gate
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In dialogue, the speakers use contractions: can’t, it’s. But the in the text of the book proper, the matrix, words are spelled out in full: could not.
Subtle. Simple. And it works.
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WORLD-BUILDING and WILDERNESS: 