FifthView
Vala
I'll add a couple of other points.
Translating this into novel writing...I think that maybe the issue of focus isn't strictly an issue of whether the world in general is elevated. It may be different elements of a story. Particular conflcits, characters, whatever. Disparate elements of the story gaining somewhat equal focus early in the story, before these elements are explicitly brought together into the principle plot. Sometimes when I think of "milieu," I'm thinking of the whole lot.
The issue of stylistic choice bothers me when the implication is that "anything goes, always, in every case," and as if there's no particular reason to choose one approach over another. I tend to think in terms of techniques which achieve a particular effect, not rules. I do think that author choice plays a paramount role in deciding the story to tell and the effects desired. But once these are known, then deciding on techniques to achieve those goals means ruling out some techniques and choosing others that will best help in achieving those effects.
So when thinking about prologues in general, different types of prologues, different ways to write the prologues, and different stories and effects, I wonder about their use as a technique. I do not believe they have no effective use.
Translating this into novel writing...I think that maybe the issue of focus isn't strictly an issue of whether the world in general is elevated. It may be different elements of a story. Particular conflcits, characters, whatever. Disparate elements of the story gaining somewhat equal focus early in the story, before these elements are explicitly brought together into the principle plot. Sometimes when I think of "milieu," I'm thinking of the whole lot.
The issue of stylistic choice bothers me when the implication is that "anything goes, always, in every case," and as if there's no particular reason to choose one approach over another. I tend to think in terms of techniques which achieve a particular effect, not rules. I do think that author choice plays a paramount role in deciding the story to tell and the effects desired. But once these are known, then deciding on techniques to achieve those goals means ruling out some techniques and choosing others that will best help in achieving those effects.
So when thinking about prologues in general, different types of prologues, different ways to write the prologues, and different stories and effects, I wonder about their use as a technique. I do not believe they have no effective use.
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