Sunday 5 October 2014

Does anybody read forewords'?



I don’t like reading forewords, and if I do so it’s begrudgingly. Prefaces, forewords’ and acknowledgements are just a barrier through which I must plow in order to get to the story. Am I the only one who thinks this way?
     My new novel, the one I shall publish after Geezers Two is called The Book of Pain and is (I hope) an original concept. In fact I did begin to write a foreword. It was going to be precise, concise and the epitome of brevity. Unfortunately after a few days it had grown exponentially, and not wanting to chuck away what I hoped was some decent writing I decided to make it chapter one and do away with anything before it.
     Would I be harming the book if I do? The now first chapter holds all the information the reader needs to know about how it all began and will, I hope, be enough to persuade them to continue. And as it’s only four pages long should not be too burdensome.
     In order to do something I’ve included the two passages below before chapter one. They are in context with the novel and not simply chosen for their unpleasant wording.
Any thoughts on the matter would be welcome.


"Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. 2 Corinthians 7:9




“Indeed, those who disbelieve in our signs, we will roast them at a fire. As often as their skins are wholly burned, we will give them in exchange other skins, that they may taste the punishment.” (Qur’an, 4:56)


9 comments:

  1. I skip the stuff. I want the story, too.

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  2. I read some, but if it's boring I move on. That would make a great chapter 1. of course, that book is better than great. It's priceless. (2nd time I've tried to comment)

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  3. Thanks for trying again.
    It's the same way I feel. Just can't be bothered unless the books good then I go back afterwards.
    A little like reading a newspaper backwards but I prefer it.

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  4. I see your point, but you know what they say" once written the words won't go away" agman

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  5. True, but if I kept all my writing, my books would all be two thousand pages long. That would be a crime against the written word.

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  6. I keep trying to comment and it won't post it. :( maybe because I semi-disagree, lol!

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  7. I tend to skip the forward that are just a secondary author talking about how much they liked the book, or even the author themselves telling about how the story came to be etc. But if it's a prologue style where it is a peeve of the story, like in a different character's POV than the main story, or else a piece of information, like a legend associated with the story that there's no way to work in, or a piece of history of the world etc. Then yes! Because it's as much a part of the book as chapter one, and in fact I like them because I think of them as the supplementary images you get during a movie's opening credits that are worked in there because there's no way to work it into the storyline itself

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  8. Again, I do read them when I've finished the novel but don't want to let it go. But at the beginning I just want to have at it.

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