Dedications and Opening Quotes

So, as the title says, do any of you guys do dedications for your stories, and/or opening quotes?

My current project I'm focusing on has been officially dedicated to the memory of Howard Zinn, historian, social activist, playwright, and teacher, as his most famous work, A People's History of the United States, has heavily inspired the direction of the work's plot.

The opening quote I'm using is also from Mr. Zinn:

"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people."

How about you, TV Tropes?

"Shit, our candidate is a psychopath. Better replace him with Newt Gingrich."

I'm not sure. If I do throw in a quote (before opening paragraph that kinda narrates a few things), it'll probably be something random and witty like "Tracers work both ways".

Dedications however I am even less sure of.

With the mediums I'm working with, doing either would be weird.

So no.

I feel if I can't think of a couple of epigrams, I don't really understand the story.

For my current project, so far, I have:

"Don't you want somebody to love
Don't you need somebody to love
Wouldn't you like somebody to love
You better find somebody to love"
—Jefferson Airplane

"Then all at once the quarrel sank:
Everyone felt the same" —Philip Larkin

edited 26th Jan '12 6:34:02 PM by HersheleOstropoler

The child is father to the man —Oedipus

None of the works I'm actually working on at the moment take place in settings where it would make sense to use anything that exists now, so I'd have to come up with Fictional Documents, which I really don't feel like doing. So no. I suppose I might, theoretically, if/when I get to any of my more modern-day stuff.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

Your friendly party pooper here to remind you that even short quotes in fictional works are technically copyright infringement*

. Whether that matters to you is your prerogative.

Spoken quotes? I don't think so. But the Jefferson Airplane quote would be protected by copyright, for instance.

edited 26th Jan '12 7:10:34 PM by jewelleddragon

Wait, so quotes said by people can be copyrighted?

And there's always the public domain.

edited 26th Jan '12 7:05:38 PM by chihuahua0

^ Anonymous quotes aren't copywritten regardless of age.

But say I decide to quote Albert Einstein. Would I be breaking copyright?

When I say "opening quote," I don't mean one in-story. I mean as a sort of preface.

And, huh, I didn't know that what real life people say is copyrighted. There are a lot of copyright violations going on out there, then...

"Shit, our candidate is a psychopath. Better replace him with Newt Gingrich."

Dedications yes, opening quotes no. I've seen too many people throw in completely irrelevant quotes to try and make their book look deeper. I'm just going to avoid it altogether out of fear of joining them.

I'm a little confused as to why epigrams and dedications are being lumped together here.

...because they're both usually in the beginning...

"Shit, our candidate is a psychopath. Better replace him with Newt Gingrich."

And that's about all they have in common - a dedication is vastly less likely to relate to the meaning of a work then an epigram is.

~shrug~

I didn't say they had to be related. I just put them together because I found both things I'm using for them at the same time, and they're both at the beginning, so I was thinking about them together. I'm just asking if people use them.

"Shit, our candidate is a psychopath. Better replace him with Newt Gingrich."

Aren't dedications practically required in most genres?

I dunno. You tell me.

"Shit, our candidate is a psychopath. Better replace him with Newt Gingrich."

Well, a quick peek at ten of the books on my shelf either have dedications, or short acknowledgments at the beginning.

Are their any notable modern novels missing dedications?

Snow Crash!

Snow Crash has a dictionary entry at the front, if I recall correctly. Can't check right now, unfortunately.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

You're correct. It starts off with the definitions of "snow" and "crash" from the American Heritage Dictionary, followed by the definition of "virus" from the OED.

edited 26th Jan '12 10:28:29 PM by Leradny

edited 26th Jan '12 10:27:44 PM by QQQQQ

Dedications are great, though. They're like Oscar's acceptance speeches, only at the beginning. Shows how humble the author is.

I feel dedications should be put at the end. After the full weight of the text is felt, they mean more to know what's happened is for.. my wife and kids, and all contributors who made the research possible.