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Opening extracts or poems give a slightly old-fashioned feel to a book, so if that's the goal, it could work. In Dune, the extracts are a constant reminder that this is a story of an epic struggle ...
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#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T05:01:31Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/20851 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
Duncan McKenzie
·
2019-12-08T05:01:31Z (almost 5 years ago)
Opening extracts or poems give a slightly old-fashioned feel to a book, so if that's the goal, it could work. In Dune, the extracts are a constant reminder that this is a story of an epic struggle in future history. However, if the point is to shoehorn in more information, the beginning of a chapter is not the best place to do it. If the information is vital, demonstrate it in the body of the story somehow. Authors often add lengthy exposition because "the reader needs to know this." But it's surprising how much the reader can infer without being told, and removing such long, dry passages can greatly improve the pace of your novel.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2016-02-08T20:27:26Z (almost 9 years ago)
Original score: 2