This is sort of an op-ed piece I decided to write today. I've had this subject on my mind, lately, and being an avid reader, how could I not? I see it so often....
Have you ever wondered why authors write those little one-line dedications at the very beginning of their novels? You may very well BE one of those authors dedicating a line to someone you deem special enough to have made writing your entire novel worthwhile.
I don't have anything against authors who like to do this. After all, show me an author who doesn't do this in their books. It'll be hard to find one. But, I personally can't understand why practically every author perpetuates this practice. It seems rather pointless to me.
Consider that an "Acknowledgments" page gets included in just about every book along with this dedicatory page and I am really left scratching my head. Why bother to write some sentimental line to your dog or your mom when you've just spend a page-and-a-half thanking everybody under the sun you've ever known plus the kitchen sink? It's completely redundant.
I know--it's a tradition and one that's been around for centuries. I looked it up, although I can't seem to find out why this tradition started. It just seemed to have popped up one day and never looked back.
I promise I won't judge you for keeping this redundacy alive, although you could avoid it by just not writing an Acknowledgments page. You know, pick one and not both! But, even if you insist on doing both, I won't hold it against you. I'm cool with people doing what they feel they have to do and one sentence is hardly anything to lose sleep over.
But, I don't think I'll be joining this long-standing bandwagon. I feel the need to go against the grain and leave this little one-liner out of my future published novels. Acknowledgments will be plenty, since I see that page as being essential. What book can be made without tons of help from tons of people? But, why should any one person or animal or cosmic phenomenon get the sole dedication for any book I write?
So, what's your take on author dedications? I'm really curious as to what other people, especially authors, actually think of them. I'll admit, I laugh at the funny ones. If it's funny, I might just think it's worthwhile, after all.
I've never written an acknowledgements page, although all three of my books have dedications in them. I guess it does seem like tradition now, but those I thanked really meant a lot to me and the creation of the book.
ReplyDelete@Alex: At least you're not doing both, lol.
DeleteThis is surprisingly one of those times where I don't mind what people do. It's a little like an Oscars speech isn't it? I guess people do it because they feel it adds to the validity of their work. I will def have an acknowledgements page because so many people have had a hand in helping me shape my future published work. I don't know about a dedication though. I remember reading The Girl in the Steel Corset and Kady Cross wrote the dedication to herself. I thought that was really brilliant. We work so hard as writers we should acknowledge ourselves.
ReplyDelete@Lan: I don't know why authors write these dedications, other than it's tradition. It seems like a mindless act. I don't even remember Kady Cross dedicating her book to herself! I need to go back and look at my copy of it. LOL. That is one of the more clever ideas for book dedications I've heard of.
DeleteInteresting post. My thoughts ... There are people in my life who are important enough to me that I would (and have) dedicate a whole book to them. So why add an acknowledgements page as well? Because there are a lot of people to thank when it comes to the creation of a book! Not just the one or two that it's dedicated to. I certainly don't think it's redundant to include both (obviously, or I would have only chosen to include one!). But that's just me. It's entirely up to each author what front and back matter they want to include in their books :-)
ReplyDelete@Rachel: Of course authors can choose to do whatever they want. I'm thinking of not bothering with a dedication because I'm not really the sentimental type and I can cover my gratitude in the acknowledgments.
DeleteCool, you must do what works for you :-)
DeleteBefore becoming an author, I used to read the dedication but never the acknowledgments page. I like to see whom an author dedicates the book to. That said, I do include both in mine. The acknowledgments typically include people who had a hand of making the book what it is (CPs, etc.). My dedications usually have someone who inspired the book (I've dedicated a book two to a guy who said I should write a sequel) or someone whose support means a lot to me, even if they didn't directly have a hand in helping with the book. I figure if readers don't care, then they'll ignore it.
ReplyDelete@Cherie: I don't really read acknowledgments pages much, either, but they're not there for the readers, anyway. I do think they are a good idea, but I'm not sentimental enough to dedicate my entire book to any one person.
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