Book Dictionary: terms, proper names, neologisms
Narraya's book dictionary: no false positives on invented names, spelling consistency, context for the AI. One list per book, not global.
If you've ever written a fantasy with twenty invented place-names, a historical novel laden with forgotten noble titles, or science fiction with technologies not in the dictionary, you know the problem: every time you open the spell-checker, a forest of red underlines greets you. "Athelgar" is flagged as a typo. "Margrave" too. The name of your invented city, "Volturica", is treated as a spelling error and replaced with "Volterra".
The book dictionary solves that problem, and two more behind the scenes.
A dictionary per book, three problems in one
The dictionary is a list of terms specific to your novel: proper names of characters, invented toponyms, neologisms, genre technicalities. Once added, Narraya treats them as legitimate words. But it's not just a "words not to correct" list: it is a register that improves the book's overall consistency.
- No false positives. The spell-checker no longer flags "Athelgar" as a typo.
- Spelling consistency. If in chapter three you wrote "Athelgar" and in chapter seven "Athalgar", Narraya warns you. A classic error in books with many invented names.
- Context for the AI. When Narraya analyses a chapter, it knows the meaning of your special terms. The analysis doesn't "stumble" on words it doesn't recognize.
How to build it without making it a burden
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Start with the names of main characters.
Add protagonists and antagonists as soon as you establish them. They are the ones most at risk of inconsistent spellings.
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Add recurring toponyms.
Cities, regions, buildings, streets with invented names. No need to catalogue every location mentioned only once.
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Insert the genre's neologisms.
Fantasy terms (races, magics), sci-fi (technologies, invented units), historical (titles, extinct professions).
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Update as you go.
Don't try to fill the dictionary in one session. Every time you invent a term while writing, add it on the spot. It's a matter of seconds.
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Clean up during revision.
In the revision phase, reread the dictionary: remove entries you invented and later dropped, unify uncertain spellings, add acceptable variants (plurals, declensions).
Each book has its own separate dictionary. The terms of your fantasy don't contaminate your noir, and vice versa. It's a guarantee consistent with Narraya's philosophy: every novel is a universe of its own.
Different genres, different needs
Fantasy
Race names ("dryads", "orchifici"), places ("Twilight Valley"), invented languages, magic systems. Fantasies can reach dictionaries of 200-300 terms: best to enter them early.
Sci-fi
Technologies, invented units of measure, alien races, acronyms of galactic agencies. Watch the consistency of acronyms: "CIPAR" must never become "CIPAR-3" if it wasn't planned.
Historical
Obsolete noble titles, extinct professions, ancient toponyms, nineteenth-century forms of address. Less invention, more documentation — the dictionary becomes an archive too.
Family saga
Nicknames, diminutives, family pet names. In a novel across four generations, grandma "Tecla" shouldn't become just "Tecla" in one chapter and "aunt Tecla" in another without reason.
When the dictionary is "enough"
There's no objective measure. A good signal: if during the writing of the sixth or seventh chapter Grammar Focus still flags invented names as errors, the dictionary is incomplete. If it scrolls clean, you're done. The dictionary isn't exhaustive in an encyclopedic sense — it is functional: it matters when it makes writing smoother and revision more precise.
What it is not
It's not a wiki of your world. It's not the place to describe races, explain magic, trace the political history of the realm. For that there are character sheets, relationships, and — if needed — a separate document. The dictionary is a technical service: it makes sure your book's language is respected and consistent. Worldbuilding happens elsewhere, and Narraya doesn't pretend to contain all of it.
Want to see how a compiled dictionary looks on a sample book? Try the live demo.