Made-up languages in fiction: yay or nay?

[PrincessLyra]

I'm making this topic on a total whim, haha. And actually, the question should be more along the lines of "worth the trouble or not". Anyway:
I'm working towards making a comic, and there's going to be this ancient civilization in it. Long story short, I'm kind of struggling with whether I should bother coming up with a made-up language for it.
On one hand, it would make it unique and interesting if I manage to do it right, not to mention giving it an added layer of "realness". But on the other hand, it'll be SO MUCH WORK and would take so much time and effort that maybe could be used elsewhere.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you like made-up languages in fiction? Do you remember well or badly done examples in works that you've seen? What would you rather do in this situation?

 

[tulagirl]

I love made up languages, but you are right this will be a lot of work to do it right. So much will have to be accounted for it makes my mind spin. I like this though, but how will your reader translate?

 

[Leave a Whisper]

Depends on how its done. For example a mix of english and made up words with a translation index somewhere, (like Lapine) are something I like because I can learn what they mean and how they're relevant.

 

[PrincessLyra]

@tulagirl I should've probably elaborated that the story actually takes place in modern times, and that said language is going to be reserved for incantations/mantras for the most part. In that light, @Leave a Whisper's advice is pretty helpful, I could just have like a caption box with the translation if it's a word or expression all the characters are familiar with. That does still leave the question of whether it's worth spending my time coming up with vocabulary, grammatical structure, writing characters, and making sure everything sounds like a credible language, which sounds a lot easier than it actually is. ...Holy cripes I just realized that no matter what route I go I'm going to have to create a whole FONT just for this! (because even if I don't make up an actual language, I'm still going to at least pretend that there is one, by means of cipher substitution)

I'm starting to think that while it would be awesome and show a lot of effort on my part, I already have my plate full as it is, learning the trade and the sheer amount of studying I have to do to set this in motion, not to mention thinking of characters and developing them, structuring the story and now I'm getting tired just thinking about it. What monster have I unleashed.

 

[tulagirl]

Oh I see what you mean.