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Breaking rules

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
I have odd sensibilities to prose, but it's rarely the only issue in my inability to read something. The funny part is I read more history and other nonfiction, and for some damn reason, I give those writers a pass. Perhaps it's that I seek learning rather than entertainment, so bad prose with a higher purpose isn't the same waste of time, heh heh.

I can't read Tolkien. I've read pretty much his entire body of academic work, because my research area butted up against his, but his prose kills me.
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
I have odd sensibilities to prose, but it's rarely the only issue in my inability to read something. The funny part is I read more history and other nonfiction, and for some damn reason, I give those writers a pass. Perhaps it's that I seek learning rather than entertainment, so bad prose with a higher purpose isn't the same waste of time, heh heh.
Same. I haven't been able to read a novel in over 5 years. Not a one. But let me tell you all about special forces operations in the Medieval period.
 

Incanus

Auror
I like good prologues
Doesn't matter if it's prologues or post-logues or analogues. Good is good; bad is bad. You may quote me.
You have been quoted.

Some years ago, I tried to make this same argument here with a few folks who seemed to have a universal hate of all prologues. I asked for an example of a good book with a bad prologue. Needless to say, no such example was forthcoming.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
I believe my answer to any such thread would have been, I tend to skip prologues. And will probably continue to do so.

I would think prologues would be good or bad just as often as the book itself is good or bad. Maybe slightly more so. But...the bad ones don't tend to get as much notice.

Truth is I barely remember all the books I read, let alone which had prologues or not. I just looked up out of curiosity, if LOTR had a prologue, and it does--Concerning Hobbits.

Just the thought of reading Tolkien again fills me with a feeling of taking on a big chore all over again, and then to want to read the prologue...Ugh.... Specially on hobbits? I thought 40 pages of the hobbits birthday was difficult to get through. Its a skip for me ;)

A book that seems to have universal agreement that the prologue was bad is 'I am number four'.
 
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Incanus

Auror
Same. I haven't been able to read a novel in over 5 years. Not a one. But let me tell you all about special forces operations in the Medieval period.
Interesting. This is sort of why I like comparing experiences.

I have a hard time picturing how this would come about. I think death is about the only thing that would stop me reading fiction. Blindness would be problematic--but there's audiobooks!

Speaking strictly for myself, I think not reading fiction would have a negative impact on my writing (how much of an impact is unclear). Keeping good, polished prose right in front of me all the time gives me something to strive for. I can't really imagine losing sight of that.

If all I was reading was my own WIP, and other amateur writing, I feel I would start lowering my standards. That's an unacceptable outcome for me.
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
If I find a book that hooks me, I can read it. The trouble is, that doesn't happen much.

I'm also a bit of a mimic; if I'm reading an author, I will start sounding a bit like them. Or at least I was when young. Now? Probably not. My voice is set. But honestly, I never read fiction to learn how to write; I read to be entertained.

Interesting. This is sort of why I like comparing experiences.

I have a hard time picturing how this would come about. I think death is about the only thing that would stop me reading fiction. Blindness would be problematic--but there's audiobooks!

Speaking strictly for myself, I think not reading fiction would have a negative impact on my writing (how much of an impact is unclear). Keeping good, polished prose right in front of me all the time gives me something to strive for. I can't really imagine losing sight of that.

If all I was reading was my own WIP, and other amateur writing, I feel I would start lowering my standards. That's an unacceptable outcome for me.
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
If I find a book that hooks me, I can read it. The trouble is, that doesn't happen much.

I'm also a bit of a mimic; if I'm reading an author, I will start sounding a bit like them. Or at least I was when young. Now? Probably not. My voice is set. But honestly, I never read fiction to learn how to write; I read to be entertained.
This is why I can't read fiction at all when I'm actively drafting. I code switch really fast, which is great when I'm changing POV's but not when it's just an accident of a youth misspent at the Renaissance Festival. It only happens with fiction, so I do tons of research reading then. And then between ending one and beginning the next I used to gorge on books.

I miss that. I'm working really hard on getting it back.
 

Dylan

Scribe
Well...not Tolkien, but you might like the Eye of Argon, which is more like trying to copy Robert E Howard.

I am sure they don't write the same. But if I recall, SoS is pretty much a complete rip off of Tolkien. I may have it confused with Sword of Truth though. They both blend together for me.

I get the respect for Tolkien, but I find him hard to get through. He is like, the one writer I least want to emulate. Too wordy, and too much history.
Yeah, Tolkien definitely set the blueprint but not everyone wants to read (or write) an epic history textbook disguised as a novel. And Eye of Argon? That’s a wild ride, almost worth reading just for the sheer madness of it.
 

Karlin

Sage
I originally did not have a prologue in The Second Journey. It started with, well, the beginning of the story:

Xuanzang woke just before sunrise, as was his habit, and started meditating. There was some background noise, but it would take quite a lot to disturb an old Tang Monk in the middle of his morning meditation.

He wasn’t aware of the large black fly buzzing around his head. He completely ignored the fly when it was in his ear.
But when the fly flew up his left nostril, he couldn’t help sneezing, and his concentration was disturbed. He opened his eyes, and saw that there was a large black fly dancing on his nose. Dancing?

He looked more carefully. The fly was kowtowing to him!

Xuanzang smiled.

“Welcome, Monkey! Welcome, Sun Wukong!”


Over time, and with the publisher's input, I ended up with a preliminary chapter reminding or informing the reader who the main characters are, and what the context of the story is. And, a one page framework, where the story is found in an ancient scroll*.

Looking back at it, I liked the original better, but it assumes too much knowledge on the reader's part.

* I am hoping to travel to Xian soon. Maybe I will finally get to see that scroll in person.
 
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