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Mon Mar 24, 2014 11:26 am
DrFeelGood says...



I had posted a short story a month ago on YWS. Recently I thought of expanding it and converting it into a novel. But I have some issues with the format of a novel. Some of my questions are:

1. My story is about a thief who narrates his dramatic life to a person. I am getting confused whether to go for a first person or a third person narration.

2. While reading any book, I have rarely paid any heed towards prologue of the book. So can someone kindly tell me when and why should a prologue be written.

3. This is one of my most important problems. The story is primarily a humorous satire, but I want to know how a dramatic chapter can be written without overdoing melodrama.

I am looking forward for your response! Thank you!
  





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Mon Mar 24, 2014 12:04 pm
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Dreamy says...



Hello!

Short story into a novel, isn't that how most of the novels made? :P

Answer to your first question. I personally like the third person narration. It doesn't stick out for one character, alone. Since, your story has three main characters it'd be apt and fun to read if you chose to shed light on all the three, equally.

2.Prologues are something that will hugely hinder the readers to read the novel at first place. It is helpful if your story has flashbacks. You can have the scene where the flashback has to be revealed, in the prologue. But, there are some, where they use prologues as information dumps. That's highly unlikely of what a prologue is.

Prologue tells the reader why you are writing the story. What you are going to unfold for them. If your story has a court scene where a guy is sentenced to death, write the court scene in the prologue and his flash backs as the chapters. Know what I mean? >.>

3. Well, try not to be more dramatic? I'm sorry, I don't have the answer for that. >.> Hope others will. ;)

Cheers!

All the best for you novel! :D
If any person raises his hand to strike down another on the ground of religion, I shall fight him till the last breath of my life, both as the head of the Government and from outside- Jawaharlal Nehru.
  





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Mon Mar 24, 2014 12:15 pm
DrFeelGood says...



I am glad that you replied to my questions :D Particularly because you have read the original short story and were one of the few who told me to convert it into a big story.
  





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Mon Mar 24, 2014 12:58 pm
Dreamy says...



Ha! You bet! ;)
If any person raises his hand to strike down another on the ground of religion, I shall fight him till the last breath of my life, both as the head of the Government and from outside- Jawaharlal Nehru.
  





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Mon Mar 24, 2014 1:30 pm
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OliveDreams says...



Dreamy seems to have covered most of your issues!

For the dramatic part…I would suggest research! I recommend Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud.

Its absolutely laugh out loud hilarious but combines the drama/seriousness perfectly when it's needed.

Olive <3
"There is a dead spot in the night, that coldest, blackest time when the world has forgotten evening and dawn is not yet a promise."
  





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Mon Mar 24, 2014 4:01 pm
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WritingWolf says...



Good questions Gaurav, let's see if I can help you...

1. I think the story could probably be told from whatever point of view you want. I think it really should hinge on what you're most comfortable with and what sounds best.
I am currently working on a short story and I tried to write it in third person, but I got stuck on the first sentence. Then I tried first person and then I could only get a paragraph. And now I'm writing it in second person and it is going wonderfully.
So what I would recommend is that you take the first couple paragraphs and write it out in each perspective (first, second, and third). Then decide which one was easiest to write? If they're all the same or two of them are tied then ask yourself which one sounds better? If you still can't decide then show the first couple paragraphs to someone and ask them which one sounds best.

2. Generally prologues should be avoided, unless you actually need it. This is due to the fact that most people don't like reading prologues.
So how do you know if you need a prologue or not? Well, look at what you would put in your prologue. Is it something that you can work into the story in another way? If so, then get ride of the prologue. If not, then you need the prologue.

3. I think it can be done, but you have to be really careful. I really don't know much about this so I can't help much past that. Try writing the chapter and then ask what other people think about it. If you find a lot of people say that the drama was good, then great job. If a lot of people say it was bad, then try lessening it a little.

I hope this helps. :)
~You can only grasp what you reach for~
  





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Mon Mar 24, 2014 4:56 pm
DrFeelGood says...



Thanks a lot for your detailed response. As a reader even I never take prologues seriously, so you are absolutely right in stating, that they should be avoided. What really bothers me, is that I love reading and watching dramedies and I want to write one, but don't know how to balance humour with drama. I guess people's opinion is the only option I have.
  





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Mon Mar 24, 2014 5:47 pm
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TakeThatYouFiend says...



The final question is easy; Make the main character witty. This makes him look sharp, which is good for a thief.
You know that studded leather armour in films? Nobody wore that. I mean, how would metal studs improve leather armour?
  





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Wed Mar 26, 2014 1:27 am
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Rosendorn says...



1. My story is about a thief who narrates his dramatic life to a person. I am getting confused whether to go for a first person or a third person narration.


First person is best used when there is something completely impossible to capture about the narrator in third person. What exactly this thing is can be difficult if not impossible to peg down, so use your own intuition.

2. While reading any book, I have rarely paid any heed towards prologue of the book. So can someone kindly tell me when and why should a prologue be written.


Don't write a prologue. Very, very few prologues can't be chapter 1s. Often best to simply work information into the work later, instead of putting it in a large infodump at the beginning.

3. This is one of my most important problems. The story is primarily a humorous satire, but I want to know how a dramatic chapter can be written without overdoing melodrama.


Show, don't tell.

Showing, in this case, means giving us exact situations and reasons why the drama is there. Don't delve into narration about how horrible it is. That's telling us. Show the horrible situation, their reaction to it, but let us draw our own conclusions about how we feel about the situation.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:48 am
Audy says...



Read a lot of dramedies and just go for it! Let your passion, curiosity and interest drive you and the rest will fall into place, worry about the editing stuff later and just have fun with it.
  





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Wed Mar 26, 2014 7:20 am
DrFeelGood says...



Thanks a lot everyone for advising me. One last question. Can I write an epilogue without writing a prologue? ;)
  





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Wed Mar 26, 2014 8:12 am
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Snowery says...



I've personally read a few books that end with a epilogue but didn't have a a prologue so I'm pretty sure that you can. :)
Last edited by Snowery on Sat Apr 05, 2014 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Wed Mar 26, 2014 12:15 pm
WritingWolf says...



I see no reason why you couldn't have an epilogue without a prologue. I mean, they don't really affect each other.
~You can only grasp what you reach for~
  





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Wed Mar 26, 2014 7:03 pm
Rosendorn says...



Epilogues exist in a vast variety of places completely apart from prologues, so by all means.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Tue May 06, 2014 4:44 pm
QueenOfWords says...



Hi there! :) I'm just going to throw in a couple quick words in defense of prologues.
They're not always necessary, and I think the people who misuse them give them a bad reputation. But, in certain circumstances, they can be helpful.
I mostly write fantasy using first person, so a prologue is a great way for me to explain things from a third person view using descriptive language. That way I don't have to make the character stop narrating every five minutes to describe in minute detail the traditions and settings that are completely normal to her.
A prologue is meant to be a quick narrative blurb that lets the reader know what's happening, so they don't just randomly wander in on "Sally was flying on her knofger to meet the shingen at Dermener" and have no clue what the heck you're talking about. It's supposed to be a discreet way of info dumping by disguising it as a normal book scene with action and dialogue involved.
  








I was weeping as much for him as her; we do sometimes pity creatures that have none of the feeling either for themselves or others.
— Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights