Lesson# 1: What is preface?
Series: Be that published novelist who knows the secrets to finish a book.
In this whole new series: Be that published novelists who knows the secrets to finish a book:- learn easy tips that are gathered from everyday instances to make them relatable and therefore, easy to grasp and adapt.
If you are ready to begin your first lesson which teaches -What to write and what not to write in the preface? What’s preface all about and finally why read a preface?
–Read every word of what I’m about to share with you in this topic.
Ask yourself -do you know what is preface?
Now imagine, the preface to be more like a foyer or entrance hallway, a place before you enter the grandeur of a living room in a house. Some home-owners prefer to have it some don’t, but those of who have it know it’s a soft landing, a place that gives the first impression to the house. So it can be both jazzy and warm but whatever the home-owner decides it to be it needs to be welcoming enough for guests to feel comfortable.
What to write in the preface?
Just like the foyer in the house or a welcoming space for the guest an author may or may not want to have it, but those authors who decide to write it should treat it as an opportunity to make the reader transit from his own space to the space the author wants to create. One should communicate the inspiration behind the book and in doing so inspire the reader to read the book.
What not to write in the preface?
The preface is not an introduction so it should not be about why you wrote this book or why this story needs to be told
The preface is not a part of the story therefore should be treated independently and unlike prologue, it cannot be a narrative or a story.
So, what’s preface all about?
To understand this let’s go through a preface –
Purpose of life is to attain knowledge, both via experiences and learning, and to apply this knowledge to practice the path of righteousness; with the belief that one will live several human lives as long as the balance of righteousness is maintained. Meaning, we will wear and shed many bodies, each body allowing us to take a new journey, each journey to be filled with many experiences. Each experience and learning to be savored by our senses and be absorbed in our memory box called the brain to make our intellect strong. These three, namely experiences & learning’s, senses, and intellect then become the seat for knowledge. We have to apply this knowledge righteously.
A ledger is maintained to keep an account of our doings in that life. The ledger is opened when life ends.
If the balance is maintained in our wrong and right doings then we may stay in heaven for some time till we go through the rebirth process and get another life with a strong destiny. However, if the balance is disturbed and we tip down in our doings in some life then we pay for our negative deeds in hell and may not acquire a human life in the next birth, but if we do it may be partly or full of sufferings.
But this heaven and hell are just temporary abodes, these are like stopover between the many cycles of birth and rebirth and not the ultimate destinations of our journey. Our destination is to attain the highest spiritual state, which is liberation from the soul also.
Only when we tip the scale-up by our righteous deeds, the cycle of birth and rebirth ends. That’s our purpose. To truly and honestly navigate through many lives successfully and ultimately dissolve with thre creator.
However it is not so simple as it seems.
Mother nature was to nurture and nourish all creations. Human beings were supposed to maintain a special relationship with nature. The first civilization was established on banks of the river and societies that lived in harmony flourished. The effect of the many industrial revolutions that destroy both earth and nature is not mentioned in Hindu philosophy, however, it does mention how the creator will sublime its effect.
The creator knew that the coming of such revolutions would introduce the knowledge of hoarding money by unfair means, un-rightful killings, and many such misdeeds. The practice of giving alms to needy and sacrifices to gods in order to balance their bad deeds would become widespread. The urge to fulfill desires would naturally become the means of being happy. Cherishing insatiable desires and embracing false doctrines through ignorance these men of impure conduct would stay devoted to sensuous pleasures and in their own beliefs. Therefore they would fail to merge with the creator and would be forced to go through the cycle of birth and rebirth again and again. So-called bad souls with not-so-good karma would, therefore, increase on mother earth. While on the other hand, the creator would not stop procreating, for that’s what’s he wields, and is natural for him. Thus the human civilization will go through an unneeded, unmanageable population explosion.
To maintain mother nature balance people will need to figure out their true purpose defined in Hindu scriptures otherwise the creator will have to send a period of dissolution or destruction of the manifested universe to allow mother earth to breathe again.
With this example, I want to explain that the upcoming book” The stars will align” starts from the point when ‘Subhadra’ a character from the world’s largest epic Mahabharata takes rebirth after 3000 years and chaos follows in heaven to set things right for her. But the preface doesn’t give that information. It rather informs the reader of the philosophy on which the story is based on.
So why read preface?
The preface should be considered as the basis of a book, an opening dialogue by the author to its readers. Therefore, in my opinion, it should be written in a simple concise tone yet be independent of the book contents. In case, you skipped it -doesn’t really matter!
Bought to you by
Babika Goel.
Babika Goel as a successful author has coached many budding writers due to her varied experiences and exposure to culturally, linguistically, and ethnically diverse countries.
Next, we shall discuss how to pull your readers from beginning to end in one neat arc. In case you want to incorporate your experiences or feature your book here, please email it at B@authorsonline.in.
To receive a free link to the preview of my third book, please subscribe to the box below or subscribe to receive more tips.