How to Write an Interactive Story Glossary: Which Words Can Change, and Which Meanings Cannot?
What a glossary needs to solve is not "how should this word be translated," but "where does this word appear, to what degree may it be changed, and will changing it break the plot logic." The method can be divided into four steps: first assign each word a semantic slot, then write a definition, context, and counterexample for it, then mark the variable parts and the frozen parts, and finally list the undecided translated names separately for the reviewer to adjudicate one by one.
Introduction
What a glossary needs to solve is not "how should this word be translated," but "where does this word appear, to what degree may it be changed, and will changing it break the plot logic." The method can be divided into four steps: first assign each word a semantic slot, then write a definition, context, and counterexample for it, then mark the variable parts and the frozen parts, and finally list the undecided translated names separately for the reviewer to adjudicate one by one.
Below, a fictional teaching example is used to walk through the entire process. The floating-city passage token and invitation letter are fictional settings, and the translated names and foreign-language spellings in them are only used to demonstrate structure and are not guaranteed to conform to the native usage habits of any language.
First Distinguish Four Types of Words, Then Decide Whether They Can Be Changed
In the same story, names, mechanisms, identity terms, and world facts serve different functions, and their permissible degree of variation also differs.
| Category | Function | Variable part | Frozen part |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Points to a specific thing | Choice of transliteration or semantic translation, word order | Referent, whether it is countable, distinction from other names |
| Mechanism | Explains how a rule operates | Explanatory wording | Trigger conditions, results, costs, scope of application |
| Identity term | Indicates character relationships and permissions | Honorifics, degree of colloquialism | Who uses it toward whom, whether it indicates subordination or equality |
| World fact | Established information that forms the background | Expression under the narrative perspective | Truth or falsity, time, quantity, causal relationships |
Names may change their written form, mechanisms may not change causality, identity terms may not change the direction of the relationship, and world facts may not change truth or falsity. The most common problem during review is treating a mechanism word as a name word and translating it semantically, with the result that the trigger conditions are quietly altered.
Constructed Case: Floating-City Passage Token and Invitation Letter
Suppose the story contains a floating city, and entering the inner ring requires two kinds of credentials: a passage token and an invitation letter. The passage token is issued at the city gate, anyone who lines up can receive one, and it is valid for one day; the invitation letter is written by a resident inside the city to someone outside the city, one letter can bring only one person, and it must be delivered before arrival. Both can let a person pass through the gate check, but the passage token can only be used for the outer ring, while only the invitation letter can enter the inner ring.
The glossary can be written like this:
Passage token (pass token)
- Definition: A temporary credential issued at the city gate, proving that the holder is permitted to enter the outer ring.
- Context: Appears in scenes of lining up, inspection, and becoming invalid after expiration.
- Frozen: Issuing location, one-day validity period, can only be used for the outer ring.
- Variable: Translating it as "pass tag" or "temporary token" is acceptable, but the words "inner ring" must not appear.
- Counterexample: Translating it as "inner-ring pass" would overlap with the invitation letter's permission and cause a conflict later in the text.
Invitation letter (invitation letter)
- Definition: A credential written by a resident inside the city to a specific recipient outside the city, limited to one person per letter, valid before arrival.
- Context: Appears in scenes of receiving the letter, transferring it as a gift, and checking names.
- Frozen: The writer must be a resident inside the city, limited to one person, delivered before arrival.
- Variable: The form of address may be colloquial, but it cannot become an item that can be copied or purchased.
- Counterexample: Translating it as "admission ticket" would imply that it can be purchased at the city gate, breaking the setting that "it must be written by a resident."
Gate check (gate check)
- Definition: A checkpoint for inspecting credentials, not a place name.
- Context: Both passage tokens and invitation letters are checked here.
- Frozen: The inspection action and the release result.
- Variable: It may be translated as "checkpoint" or "inspection point."
- Counterexample: Translating it as "city gate" would conflate it with the place where passage tokens are issued.
A character may fabricate an excuse in dialogue, for example, someone says, "An invitation letter can bring three people." This sentence is the character's lie, not a new world fact. The glossary should mark it as an "erroneous statement in a character's line" and note that the true rule is still one person per letter. When reviewers see this kind of sentence, they should first determine whether it is narration or character speech, and then decide whether it triggers a revision.
How to Fill In the Four Columns: Definition, Context, Counterexample, and Pending Translation
Each column has clear acceptance criteria.
For the definition, write "what it is, who produces it, and for whom it is valid," without rhetorical flourish. For the context, write "what kind of scenes it usually appears in" to help the translator judge the tone. For the counterexample, write "what kind of translation would cause what consequence"; this is the column most easily omitted in a glossary, yet it is the one best able to prevent mistranslation. For the pending translation, write "the current candidate wording" and note the reason it is undecided, for example, "Candidate A is closer to the literal meaning, Candidate B is more colloquial, and a decision must be made in light of the character's identity."
Pending translations should not be mixed together with settled translations. Reviewers need to see at a glance which can be used directly and which must be paused for judgment. A simple marker can be added to pending items, for example, writing "pending review" after the name, to avoid misuse in the main text.
Completion Check
A usable glossary can be checked item by item before delivery:
- Every name can answer "what it refers to and what it cannot refer to."
- Every mechanism clearly states the trigger conditions, results, and costs.
- Every identity term indicates the user and the target.
- Every world fact distinguishes narrative fact from character speech.
- The counterexample column has at least one entry and explains the consequence.
- Pending translations are listed separately and are not mixed with settled items.
- In the table, descriptions of the same thing's permissions are consistent across different entries.
If a term cannot be given a counterexample, it usually means its boundaries have not yet been thought through clearly. You can first go back into the story to find a scene where it is misused, and then add it.
As a next step, you can pick out the three mechanism words most easily mistranslated, write one counterexample for each, and put them into the glossary for the reviewer to try judging.
