Writing What system of units do you use in your fiction?

[Eldoria]

System of Units in Fiction​

In the real world, a system of units is a standard or agreement used to measure and express physical quantities. There are seven international standard units: length (meter), mass (kilogram), time (second), temperature (kelvin), electric current (ampere), luminous intensity (candela), and amount of substance (mole).

In fiction, the use of units is important for measuring the physical reality of your fantasy world while also providing a visual image for readers. For example, narrating the 50-foot distance between the protagonist and antagonist facing each other on the battlefield. Without unit guidance, readers may have difficulty visualizing the scene accurately or find it abstract.

Furthermore, the use of units can also serve as benchmarks for measuring realities in fantasy worlds that are not covered in the real world. For example, providing units for mana. Or it can also provide a scale for measuring character power or cultivation rankings (such as beginner, advanced, expert, master, grandmaster).

Or, the use of new units to make a fantasy world more immersive, where the author intentionally introduces new units to demonstrate that this is a fictional world. For example, creating a new calendar system, a new system of length, etc.

My questions are:

1. What system of units do you use in your fiction?
2. Do you stick to the international system of units (e.g., meters = for length, kg = for mass, etc)?
3. Or do you use a non-standard system of units (e.g., feet = for length)?
4. Or do you develop your own system of units, either completely new (innovative) or simply modified (e.g., changing a month to 40 days for the fictional world's calendar, instead of the standard Gregorian calendar's 30 days)?
5. Why do you use that system of units in your fiction?

Critical Note:
Using a consistent unit system can also prevent authors from introducing plot holes they might not even be aware of. For example, narrating a protagonist's journey across continents on foot in a matter of days (without vehicles or teleportation).

While the distance between continents is at least thousands of kilometers, realistically, traveling between continents on foot can take months or even years.

Consistent use of a unit system is essential for maintaining the world's internal logic.

 

[Omarfaruq]

Unit Systems in Fiction​

In the real world, a system of units is a standard or agreement used to measure and express physical quantities. There are seven international standard units: length (meter), mass (kilogram), time (second), temperature (kelvin), electric current (ampere), luminous intensity (candela), and amount of substance (mole).

In fiction, the use of units is important for measuring the physical reality of your fantasy world while also providing a visual image for readers. For example, narrating the 50-foot distance between the protagonist and antagonist facing each other on the battlefield. Without unit guidance, readers may have difficulty visualizing the scene accurately or find it abstract.

Furthermore, the use of units can also serve as benchmarks for measuring realities in fantasy worlds that are not covered in the real world. For example, providing units for mana. Or it can also provide a scale for measuring character power or cultivation rankings (such as beginner, advanced, expert, master, grandmaster).

Or, the use of new units to make a fantasy world more immersive, where the author intentionally introduces new units to demonstrate that this is a fictional world. For example, creating a new calendar system, a new system of length, etc.

My questions are:

1. What system of units do you use in your fiction?
2. Do you stick to the international system of units (e.g., meters = for length, kg = for mass, etc)?
3. Or do you use a non-standard system of units (e.g., feet = for length)?
4. Or do you develop your own system of units, either completely new (innovative) or simply modified (e.g., changing a month to 40 days for the fictional world's calendar, instead of the standard Gregorian calendar's 30 days)?
5. Why do you use that system of units in your fiction?

I didn't mention any system of unit yet ?
Which system of unit do you use for your fiction Sensei?

 

[Exiled_From_Earth]

Within my current story, a very large part of the universe's history is that humanity was waging a war that lasted half a century. Because of this, I initially thought it would be kinda fun to have every bit of worldbuilding have a militaristic twist to it.

So I decided to combine a kilometer and a "click" (which is already a vaguely military slang term for a kilometer) into the single word "Kiloclick."

Now here's the issue, my dumb brain does not use the metric system, so I keep on mentally thinking that a "Kiloclick" is a mile, and also because I firmly established that the universe has a different measurement system as far back as Chapter 1, I can't use "Feet" or "Yards" within any of my actual descriptions in narration...

It's by far the weirdest problem I've faced while writing.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I try not to. When I can't avoid it, I use the American Standard based on old English Imperial (except the gallons, which are smaller for some strange reason) measurements, as that's what I've used for about 90% of my life (the other ten percent being metric, either in tabletop games or on trips out of the US, mostly to Canada).

 

[Omarfaruq]

Within my current story, a very large part of the universe's history is that humanity was waging a war that lasted half a century. Because of this, I initially thought it would be kinda fun to have every bit of worldbuilding have a militaristic twist to it.

So I decided to combine a kilometer and a "click" (which is already a vaguely military slang term for a kilometer) into the single word "Kiloclick."

Now here's the issue, my dumb brain does not use the metric system, so I keep on mentally thinking that a "Kiloclick" is a mile, and also because I firmly established that the universe has a different measurement system as far back as Chapter 1, I can't use "Feet" or "Yards" within any of my actual descriptions in narration...

It's by far the weirdest problem I've faced while writing.

Bro you are in a serious dilemma.

I try not to. When I can't avoid it, I use the American Standard based on old English Imperial (except the gallons, which are smaller for some strange reason) measurements, as that's what I've used for about 90% of my life (the other ten percent being metric, either in tabletop games or on trips out of the US, mostly to Canada).

Nice choice, you have a keen taste.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

As an aside, in my fantasy world, Pyrroth, I toyed very, very briefly with creating new standards - especially after reading the Conrad Stargaard novels by Leon Frantkowski, where his MC is "sold" on a base 12 currency system by the local merchants instead of the base 10 he wanted to use.
But realized I'd spend more time explaining the system to readers (and the world was originally created for AD&D because I didn't want to be "stuck" with a world where my players might know more about it than I did, like Mystara, Oerth, Krynn or Abbeir-Toril, and AD&D used the American standard)

The passage of time is a little different - it still uses hours, minutes, seconds and has a roughly twenty-four-hour day (there is a little variance due to a wobble in the orbit).
A week, however, is five days.
A month is three tendays (or six weeks).
Every season has three months, there are four seasons.
There are also two "stray" days, between the Spring and Summer seasons, used for various festivals and such, and, every ten years, there is an extra day between Autumn and Winter - this Dark Day is a usually spent in hiding, quiet contemplation as it is a day of Ill Omen. The seasons are sometimes named for their individual gods, or sometimes by their English names just for simplicity. The months are numbered starting with the start of the year on the first day of Spring (Danae), and the end of the year being the last day of Winter (Shastaak), and are generally referred to by their numbers as each region often renames them anyway.

 

[L1aei]

1. What system of units do you use in your fiction?
   Answer: Depends on the setting. Like, if I am writing a fanfiction, I'm going to utilize whatever existed before I touched it.
   
   
2. Do you stick to the international system of units (e.g., meters = for length, kg = for mass, etc)?
   Answer: If I remember, yes. If not, I'll remind myself when I cross that bridge requiring me to measure something.
   
   
3. Or do you use a non-standard system of units (e.g., feet = for length)?
   Answer: Same answer as above.
   
   
4. Or do you develop your own system of units, either completely new (innovative) or simply modified (e.g., changing a month to 40 days for the fictional world's calendar, instead of the standard Gregorian calendar's 30 days)?
   Answer: Once again, it really does depend on the setting. Say as an example that we have a planet not in the same orbit as Earth around the Sun or maybe this planet is in a binary system, then I'll have to be creative because that changes everything. Measurements are initially designed as a function of convenience, so I'd have to figure out what makes my characters lives more comfortable before taking out a chart with numbers.
   
   
5. Why do you use that system of units in your fiction?
   Answer: Because it might be fun!

 

[Envylope]

I use non metric system. Sometimes I invent my own measurement system, but metric is something I find strange in a Fantasy world. There was this type of tree in one of my novels that always grew to around the same height, so the kingdom there used it as a road measurement. Forgot the name of the tree, but it was like a "Royal Blankwood". So you would say the distance from a city to another was 100 Royal Blankwoods. (Tentative)

 

[Omarfaruq]

1. What system of units do you use in your fiction?
   Answer: Depends on the setting. Like, if I am writing a fanfiction, I'm going to utilize whatever existed before I touched it.
   
   
2. Do you stick to the international system of units (e.g., meters = for length, kg = for mass, etc)?
   Answer: If I remember, yes. If not, I'll remind myself when I cross that bridge requiring me to measure something.
   
   
3. Or do you use a non-standard system of units (e.g., feet = for length)?
   Answer: Same answer as above.
   
   
4. Or do you develop your own system of units, either completely new (innovative) or simply modified (e.g., changing a month to 40 days for the fictional world's calendar, instead of the standard Gregorian calendar's 30 days)?
   Answer: Once again, it really does depend on the setting. Say as an example that we have a planet not in the same orbit as Earth around the Sun or maybe this planet is in a binary system, then I'll have to be creative because that changes everything. Measurements are initially designed as a function of convenience, so I'd have to figure out what makes my characters lives more comfortable before taking out a chart with numbers.
   
   
5. Why do you use that system of units in your fiction?
   Answer: Because it might be fun!

Bro you are really something ?

I use non metric system. Sometimes I invent my own measurement system, but metric is something I find strange in a Fantasy world. There was this type of tree in one of my novels that always grew to around the same height, so the kingdom there used it as a road measurement. Forgot the name of the tree, but it was like a "Royal Blankwood". So you would say the distance from a city to another was 100 Royal Blankwoods. (Tentative)

Sensei you also have a keen taste.

 

[Eldoria]

Which system of unit do you use for your fiction Sensei?

Personally, I use a mixed system of units that combines the International System of Units, non-standard units, and new units to measure realities beyond physics.

Time, except for the change in calendar names, remains the same as the Gregorian calendar because my fiction is based on a layered timeline. Using standard time makes it easier to calculate the time gap between scenes and the time gap between the past and the present.

For length, I use non-standard units (feet) because it is easier to visualize and has a more gothic feel.

And finally, a new unit system, well, not really new, more precisely, I took the level system of RPG games to facilitate the scaling of power between characters (for example, how strong is a sword expert compared to a sword master?).

In addition, frequently calculating maps and time gaps between arcs to create an immersive and consistent world.

 

[Omarfaruq]

Personally, I use a mixed system of units that combines the International System of Units, non-standard units, and new units to measure realities beyond physics.

Time, except for the change in calendar names, remains the same as the Gregorian calendar because my fiction is based on a layered timeline. Using standard time makes it easier to calculate the time gap between scenes and the time gap between the past and the present.

For length, I use non-standard units (feet) because it is easier to visualize and has a more gothic feel.

And finally, a new unit system, well, not really new, more precisely, I took the level system of RPG games to facilitate the scaling of power between characters (for example, how strong is a sword expert compared to a sword master?).

In addition, frequently calculating maps and time gaps between arcs to create an immersive and consistent world.

Sensei you are really a veteran.

 

[Rhaps]

There is a character from Earth who remade the unit system to be like Earth, basically a colonizer

 

[Omarfaruq]

There is a character from Earth who remade the unit system to be like Earth, basically a colonizer

British influence

 

[Bobple]

Metric mostly, but it would fun to a have story with its own measurement system one day. Though I don't try to use specific distance often.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

Unit Systems in Fiction​

In the real world, a system of units is a standard or agreement used to measure and express physical quantities. There are seven international standard units: length (meter), mass (kilogram), time (second), temperature (kelvin), electric current (ampere), luminous intensity (candela), and amount of substance (mole).

In fiction, the use of units is important for measuring the physical reality of your fantasy world while also providing a visual image for readers. For example, narrating the 50-foot distance between the protagonist and antagonist facing each other on the battlefield. Without unit guidance, readers may have difficulty visualizing the scene accurately or find it abstract.

Furthermore, the use of units can also serve as benchmarks for measuring realities in fantasy worlds that are not covered in the real world. For example, providing units for mana. Or it can also provide a scale for measuring character power or cultivation rankings (such as beginner, advanced, expert, master, grandmaster).

Or, the use of new units to make a fantasy world more immersive, where the author intentionally introduces new units to demonstrate that this is a fictional world. For example, creating a new calendar system, a new system of length, etc.

My questions are:

1. What system of units do you use in your fiction?
2. Do you stick to the international system of units (e.g., meters = for length, kg = for mass, etc)?
3. Or do you use a non-standard system of units (e.g., feet = for length)?
4. Or do you develop your own system of units, either completely new (innovative) or simply modified (e.g., changing a month to 40 days for the fictional world's calendar, instead of the standard Gregorian calendar's 30 days)?
5. Why do you use that system of units in your fiction?

Critical Note:
Using a consistent unit system can also prevent authors from introducing plot holes they might not even be aware of. For example, narrating a protagonist's journey across continents on foot in a matter of days (without vehicles or teleportation).

While the distance between continents is at least thousands of kilometers, realistically, traveling between continents on foot can take months or even years.

Consistent use of a unit system is essential for maintaining the world's internal logic.

Sometimes I invent my own, but translate it to Earth units so readers can grasp the size I'm talking about.

 

[Rhaps]

British influence

Funny enough, that character is a quarter French and have the most legitimate to claim the French Throne.

 

[Zagaroth]

I tried to use metric, because as a concept it is certainly cleaner and better, but when writing and having characters estimate things, I was spending too much time and effort converting from my initial habit of imperial measurements and some of them felt more awkward to slide into a narrative flow or have a character say in a natural way, mostly because I am not used to it.

So I stopped that and am back to using the American version of the imperial system, because I just find it easier to write in and not have to think about too much.

I imagine that people who grew up with Metric have the opposite issue.

However, I switch to units of time when talking about long distances, because that is the way people on foot have usually talked about such things. The two nearest towns to the primary location of my story are about a 2-day walk for most people, and are in opposite directions, so are a four-day walk from each other.

Note: this assumes a reasonable amount of travel time during the day, + time to set up camp, eat meals, rest, breakdown the camp, etc.

As I have a fairly solid grasp of the time it takes to cross real distances when not using magic or modern technology, using time makes things easier to lay out, as the effects of terrain are included. This makes it easier to not have plot holes, as I do not have to calculate exact distances or anything.

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

Heh,

So my MC uses imperial units, while the gods use metric, which confuses my MC.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

My MC is British so he uses mostly Metric but since it the 1880s everyone else uses Imperial with the exception of a few.

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

A large boulder the size of a little boulder.