POV Question

[Crista]

In the novel I am working on, throughout the book I used a close third-person POV. I like using it and it really fits the 'tone' of the book. The problem I'm coming across is in the prologue. When I wrote it, I slipped into a more third-person omnicient POV which works for the scene, but I am afraid that readers might get confused because that POV is only used in the prologue and nowhere else in the novel. Would it be better to go ahead and re-write that prologue in close third-person to 'match' the rest of the book or am I worrying over nothing?

Thank in advance for any help.

[katiemac]

I've read books in the past where the prologue was an entirely different POV from the rest of the book. For instance, the novel I just finished used the first person POV of a main character in the prologue, then switched the third person omniscent for the rest of the novel. I believe the epilogue was also written in first person.

I've also read prologues which was in first person, as was the rest of the book, yet the first person POV of the prologue was a completely different character (and one that didn't even appear in the rest of the story) than the rest of the novel.

I don't think your prologue will confuse readers at all, especially since you're using two forms of third person. Readers adapt fairly quickly within the beginning of a story. A prologue, while part of the story, is still separated (at least in my mind) from the rest of the novel. Using a different POV underlines that and can work very well.

Best of luck, and welcome to the boards!

[reph]

Are you sure this novel needs a prologue? Prologues are discussed from time to time on this forum. Many readers say they skip them.

[Crista]

Thank you for the warm welcome to the boards, katiemac! And also for the advice on the prologue. I think it works with the rest of the novel as it is, but I often succumb to self-doubt over my own work. Maybe I should listen to my instincts more often. LOL.

As for the prologue, I thought long and hard on whether I really needed it or whether it could be made into the first chapter and leave it at that. But the problem is that the prologue is both set about ten years before the first chapter and is so different in tone and POV that it works much better on its own than as a first chapter. I've thought about whether it is really important to the rest of the book, but, as it reinforces one of the major themes of the novel AND sets up a lot of the action that occurs later on, I don't think I could scrap it completely without losing something in the process. I've heard about many readers not reading prologue and can only hope that IF this book is ever published, some readers might make an exception for me. LOL. Not likely, but hey, a girl can hope.

[GPatten]

I had a prolog in the one I’m writing now and the prolog time ling was a few years after the main story, it picked up on the end of the story but it didn’t divulge too much of the story, or the ending. I removed the word prolog and inserted it as chapter one. I wrote: ...but all this took place sometime in 1999; it began about 1987, 12 years beforehand in Beirut Lebanon. I have no idea why I had a prolog. I think I will find those topics on prolog and see what they tell me.

[Euan H.]

Hi Crista,

I can't see it being a problem. After all, if your prologue is separated from the rest of the story by a gap of time and place, then why would the reader get confused if the POV is different as well? As far as I can see, it's just another way to set off the prologue from the first chapter.

Having said that, the only real thing I think you need to ask is 'is the POV right for the scene?' If you think a 3rd person omniscient works better than a 3rd person limited would, then use the 3rd omniscient.

My 2c.