Why do you feel it necessary to foreshadow the events of the chapter? (I'm not arguing that it doesn't have a purpose, but I'm just trying to get you to think about it). Why not just let the reader discover the chapter for him/herself? And if it's a poem written by one of the characters, does this have a role? Are the poems themselves some kind of prophetic message? In which case, why not just introduce them as they come?
they do have a prophetic message. this is how it goes: the character wrote a poem about death many years before the events in the book take place and know one (in the book) knows that they foreshadow what will happen except for one guy. but the reason why I want the poem there is because I love when things are foreshadowed. It's a personal thing I get. It doesn't stop the reader from discovering the chapter, because (in my own mind ) it's very subtle foreshadowing.
Like I said, I'm just trying to play the devil's advocate to get you thinking about whether or not it's truly necessary. Only you know as the author if that's the case. The obviously play a central role so I would say go for it.
Thanks, that's what I need. i know they don't play a central role in the story, the poem and it's author are actually only mentioned once, but they are more of a background thing. that explains, how one character knew things were going to happen before hand. I don't ever mention it, it's for the reader to figure out.
Wow, I've never thought of doing every chapter like that before. Every time I've seen something similar, it's been used to introduce PART IV or whatever. If all of that information can offer interesting insights into the chapter and/or story as a whole, I think that that would be pretty cool. So yeah, try it out.
Personally I have no problem with the format, so long as the contents follow. As in, is it a good poem, is it related to the story and/or chapter, does it say too much or too little, does it get the reader to think... Also, it has to be short. If it's longer than a short paragraph, most people won't read it.
Sounds like you've put a lot of thought and love into this structure, with the poems and all. I think you should go for it - the idea itself sounds amazing, it's something I would personally love, assuming it's done well. I also usually love it when an author puts a snappy, meaningful quote at the beginning of chapters (I've seen this mostly for non-fiction, thought for fiction I've usually seen it only at the beginning of the book, on the blank page before Chapter One begins) - usually it sort of sums up the point of the chapter in some illustrative and powerful way that reveals wisdom better than even the most beautifully written prose. If your poems come across as like that, it'd be very powerful. My only thing to pick on - please don't put your poem on the right-hand-side of the page. I didn't even notice the "poem" until I read another user's post referring to it, so I scrolled up to check again. You don't want your readers to miss something this thoughtful. Rather centralise it I think. (Mind you, I guess on a printed page, the width is shorter so maybe the readers won't miss it, dunno)
In manuscript, the poem should be written as a block quote, an indented block not enclosed in quotation marks. The block quote, unlike ordinary manuscript paragraph text, does not use a first line indent -- the entire block quote is equally indented. Don't right-align it. Exactly where it is aligned and how it is formatted is a typesetter's decision, not the writer's.
unless you're an accomplished poet, i'd strongly advise against this... i mentor/tutor many aspiring poets and as a full time poet/tutor and an editor, know that most who think they're writing poetry are really just churning out unpublishable doggerel--or worse... an acceptable prose ms can be tossed, if the first view of your work an agent or acquisitions editor gets is poor bits of poetry starting every chapter... so, if you haven't got confirmation from knowledgeable sources that your verse is up to par, you may want to consider leaving off the poetry till your ms is accepted for publishing...
I`m not quite sure how to know if I am an accomplished poet. is my mom a knowledgeable source ? ahah joking. well i guess i`ll have to see. I`ll post the poems for review here maybe, but i write in french so, that might be a problem.
In terms of chapter titles I actually like them. Sometimes they're insightful and thought-provoking and sometimes they're not. I know many people find them to be childish but it comes down to personal choice. As with the poems, I agree with the sentiments above. The poems should really have a purpose and convey something which you can't in your narrative. I haven't read too many stories with this format but it's interesting nevertheless.
louis... since you're not writing for us or uk market/publishers, then asking here isn't going to get you valid answers unless we have other french members who have the info], since what won't be good to do for us/uk publishers may well be fine for those in france... and vice/versa...
In my region, there are places you can go to listen to poetry readings, and very often they'll have an 'open-mike' time when anyone can come up and read. See if you can find something like that where you live.
Well, i'm not from France. I live in montreal, quebec, canada. And if you didn't know, unlike the stereotype make us believe, canada is actually pretty much the same as the USA (i don't know about UK) So i'm guessing if an american publisher would accept this, then so would a canadian one.
Are you writing the text en francais? I wonder what the market is like for French fiction. (I'm from MTL too). I'm an anglophone so I have never thought about writing fiction in French, but are there a lot of authors publishing fiction in French? Or is it mostly les traductions? I don't read much in French either, except for when I was in school.
It's mostly translations because of demand obviously, people want to read harry potter, hunger games etc. But I still think there are lots of french fiction writers, i just don't read them. (i kinda hate everything artistic that comes out of Quebec just seems boring to me.)
if you're really dead set on having both a chapter title and an introductory poem for each chapter, along with the chapter number, then just type it all normally, double-spacing the poem the same as you do the text, and let the publisher's book design staff decide how to arrange it all in print... like this: ...in your ms, the first line of the text would be indented, but posting won't allow it, which is why it's all left-aligned here... the chapter #/title could be centered or at left, the poem should remain at left, or can be a block indent, but should not be centered, or at right margin...
How did you plan it? Any tips or mistake to avoid while planing a series? Yeah I know about writing a stand alone story, and about being a first time writer. But maybe I don't want to get published ans maybe The first one is already a great stand alone, now, I ask again, how does one go about planing a series?
I am not one of does who has written a series. I would plan it like a a very long novel. If you are trying to write three 300 page novels, I would look at it as one 900 page novel. You would need a main character to follow from beginning to end, you need scenes that bring out some type of emotion in the reader, and plan scenes (lots of them) that have the main character in situations to provoke the whole spectrum.
Forget series if you are a new, unpublished writer. Write a single, stand alone novel, and don't even try to leave the seeds of a series within it. Publishers don't want a series from an untried writer. The risks of taking on a new writer are magnified if the forst book is the stgart of a series, and it isn't worth their risk. Put your series dreams on a dark, high shelf until you have published a book that stands entirely on its own.
I have to agree with this. I believe that a book that originally stood alone is a much stronger foundation for a sequel than a story that was written with the intention of being the first in a series. They tend to be more solid and 'complete'. The few times I've written sequels it has been long after the first book has been completed.
I HAVE written a series, albeit not a fantasy one. My advice is to write book 1 as a standalone. That's what I did anyway.
