From: mbottorff@lshelby.com   
      
   A. Tina Hall  wrote:   
      
   > > Racciman's World is hard enough with a "don't use" list that   
   > > includes: year, month, week, hour, minute, second, mile, ghost, and   
   > > cat.  There may be more that I've forgotten.   
   >   
   > That reminds me. I really don't like using hours or minutes or seconds   
   > on not Earth worlds. Couldn't come up with a replacement though, except   
   > moment or eyeblink for second. If you have something for 'hour', tell   
   > me!   
      
   I end up using heartbeats a lot, instead of seconds.  But hours are   
   tough to do without.  Mostly I either get very vague and go for "a   
   while", "a short while" or "a long while" or I use times of the day as   
   reference points, so "later that afternoon," etc.   
      
   They also have their own system, which involves "bells" which are longer   
   than hours, but in that general vicinity.  I use those when I don't   
   think it will be confusing, but I don't want to have to teach the reader   
   a whole new time-keeping system -- it's just not that important.   
   >   
   > I don't mind year if the world has an orbit around a star,   
      
   Racciman's World doesn't.   
      
   > month is easily replaced with moon if there is one.   
      
   There's a moon, but it's perpetually in "new moon" phase.   
   I have to watch for that one, too: no moonlight, only starlight.  The   
   starlight is very bright, but still, it's one of those things that's   
   hard to keep in mind sometimes.   
      
   > Or just a different length   
   > than normal month, same for weeks. More difficult is a distinction   
   > between day(time) and day (24h - or however many hours there are).   
      
   English speakers are used to those not being differentiated without   
   extra wordage, so for me that one's no different no matter which world   
   I'm writing.  :)   
      
   > Distances aren't a problem for me. Lenths, paces, days speed-flight.   
      
   Yes.  Fortunately there are a lot of ways to describe distances.  :)   
   >   
   > Ghost isn't either. My worlds don't have ghosts.   
      
   I keep wanting to use it in figurative language.  "Like a ghost",   
   "ghostly", etc.  I have to catch those bits and choose some other   
   wording.   
      
   > I don't really know how not having cats is difficult at all.   
      
   Same reason as ghost  There are no cats, so I can't use cat metaphors.   
   It's not realy hard to avoid them, I just forget sometimes, and then   
   have to go back and fix.  I DID say your list was worse.   
   >   
   > Did it stand out in the S&E? :)   
      
   I don't remember tripping over it.   
      
   ...I guess that means you must have done a pretty good job.  :)   
      
      
      
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   Michelle Bottorff -> Chelle B. -> Shelby   
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)