Introductions

[David]

I'm helping a colleague to put his wartime experiences into book form.
It's not really my field of experience, but we seem to be getting along
quite well.
However, he has written an Introduction; Acknowledgements; a Prologue and
also he wishes to include a Forward written by his wartime boss.
I what order would you suggest these items appear in his book?

Many thanks for any advice,

Regards,


David D

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, to start, there's no book part called a "Forward." It's a "foreword."
And it should probably come first if it's written by someone else.

Front matter usually begins with an outsider's promotion of the book,
whether it's called a preface, an introduction, or a foreword.

The author himself can include both a preface (or foreword--they're the same
thing) and an introduction. The preface usually explains why the author
decided to write the book or gives other personal background information,
and it often includes the acknowledgments, though they can also be a
separate part. In any case, the preface/foreword is a personal thing, not
directly related to the topic of the book.

The introduction is usually an introduction to the subject of the book. It
may give background information on the subject or briefly review the
literature in the field.

I'm not sure what a prologue would be in a nonfiction book. In fiction it
usually presents events that occurred long before the beginning of the main
story. Sometimes the relationship of these events to the plot of the book is
not apparent until well into the story. Similarly, an epilogue tells how
things ultimately turned out, many years after the conclusion of the main
story.

 

[David]

Thank you for that, Suzanne.

From what you say his Prologue would be more accurately described as an
epilogue as it does contain some afterthoughts about his wartime
experiences.

I have suggested some rearranging of the material in the light of your
comments -- many thanks!

("Forward" was a typing error - the item IS headed "Foreword").

I've started a new thread about saving long(ish) documents in Word 2002,
which are causing some worries -- I hope you can help there, too.

Regards,

David.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

An epilogue or possibly material for a preface--but perhaps better to omit a
preface if there are already a foreword and an introduction! Glad I could
help.