This has been bugging me for a while. I constantly find myself asking this question, or noticing I've been inconsistent about it in my Campfire file, or seeing other stories that seem to be completely arbitrary about what terms they do and don't capitalize. Is there an easy-to-follow set of rules I can use to determine which of the terms I invented need to be capitalized?
Proper nouns get capitalized. Actual names or brand names etc. Otherwise they don't need to be. Offhand I can't think of any other factors, but there doubtless are more (aren't there always?)
I think another question, maybe better, is what terms need to be italicized. My view on both is to just do what is natural within your world building, and let beta readers and editors assist you.
would you mind being a bit more specific? I imagine that the same rules apply to fake words as to real ones as long as you're still writing in English.
Are your made up words titles? For example, in one of my stories a prince and a princess are vojda (first born child) and vajda (all other siblings, gender doesn't matter). Vojda Daniel was present, but the other vajdas were not. The princesses were assembled. Prince and Vojda are titles and can represent people. Are any of your words like those?
Well, species are a big one among the things that concern me, fantasy races and the like. Also there's a bunch of royal and governmental titles that are giving me pause.
Then I would say use the same rules as you would for established terms, like King and dog and homo sapiens. Whatever those rules are, follow them. Or make up your own rules and slip that into your story.
Titles are capitalised when attached to a name, and lower-case otherwise. There are exceptions. Unique titles are often always capitalised. The Doge of Venice greeted the assembled delegates. "You obey his commands because he is king of Britain!" said Sir Kay. - In this example, capitalisation of "king" is also possible. It depends on whether it is being used as a title, or as a description of his position. "Why is everyone else a captain except me?" asked Lieutenant Green.
I wouldn't capitalize the name of a species/race (the distinction can be weird when dealing with Fantasy) for the same reason I don't capitalize 'humans'. But then, when referring to us as Homo sapiens, you would format as I just did. But I think that has more to do with its Latin origins in some way. I couldn't tell you for certain without looking it up. I also feel that should be less of an issue when dealing with Fantasy races, so my personal opinion is to not capitalize race names such as elves, orcs, etc. Government titles and the like often depend on the context in which they're being used. You don't have to capitalize king, even when referring to the king, but you do need to capitalize it when referring to King Bob or when someone is referring to King Bob by another title such as His Majesty or His Kingliness of the Bobhead (which is obviously the name of the Conclave of Bobs who act as King Bob's council). To use a more modern example, you do not have to capitalize judge unless referring directly to Judge Bob or referring to him as Your Honor. Grammar is not my forte, so if there are any wiser minds than mine (probably not too hard to find) who see where I'm wrong, please correct me. Tip: Familiarize yourself with The Elements of Style. I currently own the fourth edition. It has really helped me broaden my understanding of grammar and vocabulary so that I can ignore them while I'm writing. Because let's face it, the best reason to learn the rules is so you can find the best ways to break them.
