I just wanted to throw props to Card's technique of stating each of his chapters in the Ender Series and the Shadow Series with a small blurb or an email correspondence. So much plot progression comes form this it's amazing more authors don't do it. Maybe that's why the Shadow Series can keep such a rapid pace. It's difficult some times to get the full scope of things using the story itself and the dialogue. The ability to pontificate from a 3rd party perspective is great. Whether it's a delightfully accurate jab from Graff to Peter or a mind-blowing conversation between The Hive Queen and Human.
What do you guys think?
Posted by Joshua Newberry (Member # 7864) on :
It was an effective storytelling technique, used by the correct writer in the right stories. Of course, we ALL know Card's better than just the "correct" writer, and the stories are more than just "right".
I've taken the idea, and am working on a story arc based loosely around some of the passages in Isaiah as being the "heading" passages for each story/section.
So far, it works very well.
Some writers do (see Asimov's use of the Encyclopedia Galactica, or Herbert's Irulan writings) but not as consistantly. Way to go, OSC!