• AbouBenAdhemEnglish
    4·
    16 days ago

    Starting chapters with epigraphs suggests that there’s something else with which the text is in conversation. (In historical fiction, this could be real historical sources; in scientific works, it could be earlier theories; in parody, it could be quotes from the target.)

    In worldbuilding, you could use real-world quotes to imply that your world is in conversation with the actual world; or you could use quotes from fictional in-world sources to imply that your text is part of a larger in-world literary context. But in either case, it draws attention to the idea that the text is constructed, which may or not be what you’re going for.

    • Nick East (Indie Writer)@mastodon.artOP
      3·
      16 days ago

      @AbouBenAdhem I use quotes from characters made up by me or anonymous quotes from the world I’m writing, so I definitely use it as a bit of extra worldbuilding or “larger in-world literary context.”

      Not sure what you mean by “the text being constructed” isn’t all text? 🤔😁

      • AbouBenAdhemEnglish
        4·
        15 days ago

        Not sure what you mean by “the text being constructed” isn’t all text?

        It’s pretty common since movies became popular in the 20th century to write fiction in a way that emulates that cinematic sense of immediacy, by removing anything that foregrounds a distinct narrative voice outside the thoughts and sensations of the protagonist(s). By convention, readers take this style of narration for granted and ignore that it’s still a construction (i.e., the narrator isn’t felt as a conscious presence creating the narrative.)

    • early_riserEnglish
      2·
      14 days ago

      Dune uses in-universe quotes, and I think it helps make the world feel more fleshed out.