How do people feel about those little quotes at the top of chapters?

I like them. I think they're fun! I also love footnotes.

I enjoy them as long as they are short and relevant.

I love it, if it seems to deal directly with the story and add to the illusion/world/plot.
I did this for mine, but it's a five part poem written by the main antagonist with a piece at the beginning, a piece at the end, and 3 in-between to break the novel into acts. Each piece reveals a bit more about the story and ties it all together.

I get all itchy and sneezy.

caw

I like them generally, but prefer them to be short and witty.

JulianneQJohnson said:

I enjoy them as long as they are short and relevant.

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Me too

And (personal preference) preferably not poetry unless you are really really good at poetry and/or are quoting a classic

Sage said:

This is a big deal to me in my book where the editor is requesting them. Although there are 3 POVs, the main character is seeing all 3 POVs, so I didn't want them to contain anything that he hadn't seen. Now, personally, I'd prefer for them to only exist at the part breaks where they don't interrupt the illusion that we're seeing everything he sees at the time he's seeing it except where that illusion is broken anyway, but she was clearly dissatisfied with that compromise, so now I'm sticking to this familiar-with-the-quote rule.

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Interesting, thanks.

I like them. I don't think they're a deal-breaker, though. At all. I looked forward to each one in the Dune Chronicles, for example. (And when I finished each chapter, I'd go back and read the quote again. AND, when I finished the book, I'd go back and read all of the quotes.)

I think it can set the mood for a chapter. Some only glance at them or whatnot.

Again, I don't think it's a big deal. It would be something that if your agent saw and didn't like, he/she would ask to be removed. And it's a very easy "fix."

I did them in my novels and had fun doing them. Because they're first-person, the little quotes were a way to enrich the worldbuilding without being too infodumpy. They can be skipped really easily if people don't like them.

I don't usually care for them, mainly because they interrupt the story. When I get immersed in a novel, I don't want to stop reading in order to puzzle out the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. Especially if it's random or has very little to do with the story. For example, I recently read a historical novel that had excerpts from ladies' periodicals of that era at the beginning of each chapter. The content had nothing to do with the story--it was intended to add historical flavor. I read the first couple, but once I realized they were meaningless, I skipped the rest.

That said, I don't mind a short quote at the beginning of each section, if the novel is divided into "books" or "parts." If done well, it can set the tone for the next section.

I'm with Orianna. I ignore them because they interrupt the flow of my reading.

I find them fun and interesting, especially the ones in Mistborn.

They don't bother me, but I don't read them. I know some people like them, they're supposed to add history and nuance to the atmosphere of the world and such, but I don't read them. Also, when characters burst into song or poetry within the narrative, I skip past that with an eyeroll and look for the restart of the narrative. (See: The Hobbit).

Yep, that's right, a book I've read at least 7 times and I've skipped past the singing nonsense every time.

Now, at the beginning of a book, I'll entertain quotes. Stephen King comes to mind when I think of this...the man likes to put quotes in front of his stories. But the location of those quotes don't interrupt the narrative.

WhitePawn said:

Also, when characters burst into song or poetry within the narrative, I skip past that with an eyeroll and look for the restart of the narrative. (See: The Hobbit).

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Oh yes. Glad it wasn't just me.

I'll third that! I skip the songs every time.

I'm not a fan. If them distracting, and I find I'm searching for some relevance to the storyline.

I did this in the fourth rewrite of my Fantasy gambling novel. I think they work, but I doubt all readers will. I wanted something to clue readers into an aspect of the story that's not what it seems. They're not essential to understanding the novel, though; they're just spice.

That said, the ones in Dune annoyed me no end.

I've always been of the opinion that if they serve the story then go for it. But, if you're doing it just to do it, chance are they'll come off that way.

I dislike them for the same reason seen above; they disrupt the flow of my reading. I always skip them. And I'm with whitepawn! All singing, poetry, ect gets skipped too.

Well then, if you skip them you're not bothered by 'em, and we who enjoy them can do so.

Ok, so enlighten me, guys


How do they interrupt the flow of reading if (used properly anyway) they are part of the story/worldbuilding?Part of the whole. It's just...more words for the story, ones that probably mean something.


Curious, not judgemental. (and used injudiciously I can totally see it, but some really add stuff)

I assume because many of them have a different perspective. As in, they aren't written by the main character, and they often were set down in a different time period than the main story.


Personally, I love them and they've rarely bothered me, so Im only speculating.

Number me with those who like them. I far prefer those to prologues.

Mr Flibble said:

How do they interrupt the flow of reading if (used properly anyway) they are part of the story/worldbuilding?Part of the whole. It's just...more words for the story, ones that probably mean something.

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Liosse de Velishaf said:

I assume because many of them have a different perspective. As in, they aren't written by the main character, and they often were set down in a different time period than the main story.

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That's a good observation. I expect it has to do with one's reading style and the level of immersion achieved, and how easily that immersion is disrupted. I can see how either very deep or very shallow immersion might be more easily disrupted than a moderate level of immersion. I know some people totally lose immersion if they stop reading at any point other than a specified chapter break. Maybe any little "speed bump" at that point throws them out of the story, so they react with "I don't like it".

Nonetheless, I still love them, and should I ever use any, folks who don't will just have to skip over them.

My memorable favorites are those commonly used by Jack Vance, and the ones in Neal Asher's novel The Skinner, where the chapter epigraphs form a biological treatise on the planet's life cycle, tho that won't become evident til you reach the last one.