Neography

Neography is the art and craft of creating new writing systems, often called constructed scripts. They can be used for English, other languages, or even constructed languages called conlangs. Neography is much easier than learning or creating a language: you don’t need to be a linguistics genius.

Creating a script that only you can read—and whoever you share it with—is a surprisingly fun, useful, and personal endeavor. As communities are growing around this hobby, it’s increasingly becoming a kind of unique art form that combines linguistics, calligraphy, typography, graphic design, philosophy, and more.

Why create new writing systems?

Writing is a technology that changed civilization. It marks the end of prehistoric times and the beginning of human history. The power of this invention shouldn’t be overlooked due to its simplicity and ubiquity in modern life. It’s not surprising that it attracts curious and inventive minds to explore it through creativity.

There are many practical reasons why people construct scripts, and why you might want to make your own:

Cryptography
Keep notes, journals, and messages secret.

Fiction
Build detailed sci‑fi and fantasy worlds.

Education
Learn about linguistics through creativity.

Shorthand
Write faster, more easily, and more compact.

Spelling reform
Fix the chaos of English spelling.

Creativity
Explore aesthetic and symbolic possibilities.

A brief history of neography

Writing systems and languages are often described as evolving naturally like biological life forms. But writing is a human invention, so it’s not always clear-cut what counts as a natural or invented script.

Nevertheless, some notable examples include the Korean script invented in 1443 and Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics in 1840. In the 19th century, many innovative forms of writing were invented for particular purposes, including Braille for the visually impaired and Morse code for telecommunication.

한글은홀소리와닿소리모두소리틀을본떠만든음소문자로한글맞춤법에서는닿소리 14개과홀소리 10개, 모두 24개를표준으로삼는다.

ᑎᑎᕋᐅᓯᖅᑐᖅᓄᑖᖅ—ᐊᑲᐃᓗᑕᖅᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦᓇᐃᒡᓕᒋᐊᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅᑎᑎᖅᑲᖅ. ᓱᓕᐊᖅᐂᒌᒧᒦᓇᐱᖅᓱᓕᐊᖅᐊᔪᕿᖅᑐᐃᔨᑭᒡᒐᖅᐃᑦᓴᖅ.

Speculative fiction in the 20th century began a new fronteir. The most prominent and influential example is Tengwar, the Elvish script from Middle‑earth created by J. R. R. Tolkien and famously inscribed on the One Ring.

In the 21st century, many are following in Tolkien’s footsteps. The hobby of inventing languages or imaginary worlds, or both, has exploded in popularity.

How to get started

This website is a crash course for beginners and a handy reference for intermediate neographers. The pages linked below are all you need for a solid foundation. The first two will help you understand the fundamental knowledge, and the next two teach you how to create scripts.