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[Writing Post] Question for Writers and Readers
When you’re reading books that contain music or poetry as a major element – do you like having song lyrics in there or do you skip over them?
Do they add to the experience or take away?
Really need to know this. Please weigh in! I need your input!
3 Comments
I tend to skip over them, but it depends on how I’m feeling at the moment, possibly on the context surrounding the lyrics as well.
I think they can add to the story, but I don’t think they’re required. I read them, even when they’re chapter headers (eg opening of chapters in Anne McCaffrey’s _Dragonsong_ series). And some I even have memorized: “When the dark comes rising, six shall turn it back …” (Susan Cooper, _The Dark is Rising_).
If they’re at the beginning of the book, or at chapter breaks, and there are just a few, I’ll look at them. Or, within the book itself, if they are directly relevant to the plot. Generally, though, they don’t add much to the story for me. I’m more interested in what the writer of the book has to say, than a rehash of what someone else said.
Two exceptions to this:
One, you see some fantasy writers create their own books/songs/poems and then include snippets or lyrics at certain points of the book. I’ve always appreciated that, as it adds to the world-building.
Two, if it is from an obscure text or song that I might not otherwise have heard of, and if it helps add to the overall atmosphere or context that the writer is trying to create. Dean Koontz including relevant bits from the Egyptian Book of the Dead at certain points in a story can certainly ratchet up the creepy factor.