Yet another possible Cliché

[aldan]

I know that it's not incorrect in the publishers' eyes, since I've seen it printed on the cover of a recent copy of The Hobbit.

[Magus]

Spiderkeg, the definition of a prequel states that it is a work that is written after a preexisting work, but is placed chronologically before it. The Hobbit can before The Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings was written as a SEQUEL to the Hobbit, not The Hobbit as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings.

[Spiderkeg]

I'm not trying to argue the definition of prequel or whether the Hobbit should be classified as a preque to the LOTR, but here is what Webster defines prequel as:

: a literary or dramatic work whose story precedes that of an earlier work

It doesn't make any distinction of whether a prequel has to be written after a work but chronologically take place before the said work to classify as a prequel.

I was just going off of this definition in mind.

[Magus]

Read that definition again. The story has to precede an earlier work. The Hobbit was Tolkien's first novel. There were no earlier works that it could have preceded. The Lord of the Rings came later, not earlier. Therefore The Hobbit cannot be classified properly as a prequel. The Lord of the Rings, however, can be classified as a sequel.

[Spiderkeg]

You are probably right then. I think the term prequel then is now becoming synonymous with coming before a novel or series, regardless of when it was written.

[aldan]

I was simply going by what the Publisher had done on that novel I saw in a Border's bookstore.

[Talon Sinnah]

Boy do I feel musically challenged.

[Magus]

Yay! Magus wins by technical knockout!

[Anthentar]

Just to let the people know, I've gone ahead with it and taken it past its conception phases, or whatever you want to call the part where the idea is floating around your head but it doesn't make much sense. Anyway, I have a basic outline and am currently working on names for the characters... and the strange beasts that the armies of Delles will deploy as cavalry during the Battle for Fon Telgrow

[aldan]

Cool!! That's a great part of the creation process, IMO... being able to come up with labels for the concepts that are your ideas. Once you have that part set, it makes the growth of your story at a more rapid pace become more likely as well as more possible. I've found that names help to solidify the character of each of mine. It matters not if the names have anything to DO with the character of each character. The thing that matters to me is that I have something to tie my emotions to, and for me that is a name. Good luck on finding the best for your use!

[Anthentar]

So far through the craetion process they've been simply:

The Prince
The General
The Soldier
The Farmer
The Farmer's Daughter (not leading to what you might think it is)
The Prince's Guard
and so on...