Prologues

[Jewel101]

How long should a prologue be? When does it become too long?

[scfirenice]

I'm not sure on this one, I think if you begin to tell another story instead of enhancing or adding to the background of the main, it is too long. I have read some long ones, but I can't remember one over half a dozen pages. There probably isn't a set length, if you need to tell it then write it, but watch that you don't start something it will take another novel to finish.
S

[Titus Raylake]

My method is to take the total length (or intended length) of the manuscript and divide it by 20 to find out the length of the Prologue. For example, a 300 page novel would have a Prologue that is about 15 pages long.

P.S. I sometimes write a few pages more than what I figure, but that's probably okay as long as you don't end up with 80 pages of Prologue :).

[Garpy]

One thing to bear in mind is that there are readers out there who either skip prologues or skim them thinking (wrongly) that the book-proper starts with chapter 1.

For my money I would not abuse the concept of a prolgoue, keep it short, and attention-grabby but don't let it overstay its welcome.

[Titus Raylake]

One thing to bear in mind is that there are readers out there who either skip prologues or skim them thinking (wrongly) that the book-proper starts with chapter 1.

Right, there are people that don't even read the Prologue.

When I read a book that has a Prologue, I sometimes skip it as well and then go back to it after I have read the rest of the book.

[Torgo]

I think a prologue's often a false start for a book. Sometimes you see them where Chapter One starts off in the wrong place, is slow to get moving, and the nervous author has decided that they need something more interesting right up front. For my money, it's often better to find a more interesting place to get into the story and skip the prologue entirely.

[Julie Worth]

My method is to take the total length (or intended length) of the manuscript and divide it by 20 to find out the length of the Prologue. For example, a 300 page novel would have a Prologue that is about 15 pages long.

P.S. I sometimes write a few pages more than what I figure, but that's probably okay as long as you don't end up with 80 pages of Prologue :).



Frankly, this is insane.

[mistri]

I have a prologue that's just one paragraph long - it's more of a quick scene setter than everything else. And while I'm not 100% sure I'll leave it in the final draft, I do think it fits the story.

[Bufty]

You first have to answer the question - do I need a Prologue at all? And, Titus, to have it a predetermined length is absurd.

[JenNipps]

I agree with what a lot of the others have said. Many people completely skip the prologue.

I have one completed fantasy novel that has a 3-4 page prologue. It was originally in the middle of another chapter, but it was an info dump. I took out the dump and the story flowed better, but that information really was needed, so I put it in a prologue.

I would never dream to have a prologue with every book or to have it at a certain length every time.

[HapiSofi]

Prologues should be cut. Many people don't read them, and for good reason. Too often they're murky, pointless, and unrewarding.

You know how a baseball pitcher will go through a bunch of meaningless mound-scratching hat-settling ball-and-glove-testing behaviors before settling down to the business of throwing the ball? Most prologues are like that. It's amazing how often they can simply be deleted, with no further rewriting required.

Even if your particular prologue is more worthy of notice, it's still going to be ignored by readers who've lost patience with prologues in general. Take that bit and recycle it into the main book.

The expendable intro, prologue, or opening paragraph turns up in many other kinds of writing. Academic essays and major business reports are particularly prone to them. I consider it part of my normal proofing and rewriting process to experimentally delete my first paragraph and see how the piece reads without it. If the first paragraph needs to be there, I try deleting the first sentence. It's good practice.

[Dru]

Length is subjective. Do what is correct for your story. If the action starts in the prologue, then make that your first chapter. If there isn't any action in the prologue that moves the story forward, you should consider axing it. Or possibly integrating it into other scenes in the book.

While I don't understand the sentiment of it, most people skip prologues. I assume that if an author has provided prose for me I should read it. However, when this thread surfaces, more than half the board members admit to skipping them. Then again I skip infodumps, so it definitely is a matter of taste

Ask yourself this:
Does the prologue somehow move the story forward in a way that the rest of the novel cannot achieve on its own?
Does the beginning inform the end (will we as readers have come full circle with the storyline) with or without the prologue?
Can this be worked into some other place in the novel?


or as UJ advises, hold the gun up to the prologue's head and see if it can really defend itself.

[ChunkyC]

I have a prologue in my current work that I feel is essential. It has action that directly relates to the climax of the book. The story then goes back to where the seed of the crisis was planted and works its way up to that 'breaking point' for the finale, completing the 'circle.' Yet one of my beta's has pointed out that though the overall story is good, the climax isn't as big a payoff as it could be, considering what was 'promised' by the prologue. I am sensing another draft in my book's near future.

I also think that if it must be there, calling the prologue a prologue might be a mistake, for the reasons stated above. Chapter numbers could be done away with altogether, or just call the prologue 'Chapter 1.'

PS -- and to more directly respond to the original post ... my prologue is 5 or 6 manuscript pages long out of about 380. (I don't have the ms in front of me.)

[loquax]

I also think that if it must be there, calling the prologue a prologue might be a mistake, for the reasons stated above. Chapter numbers could be done away with altogether, or just call the prologue 'Chapter 1.'e.g. the first, fourth and latest Harry Potter books. They all begin on what could very well be called prologues, but don't have the curse of having the word printed above them.

[WannabeWriter]

For me, I only like prologues that relate to the story real soon. I don't want to read a prologue, then have to wait about 100 to 150 pages to find out how the main story and the prologue relate. It takes away the feel of riding along with the story. I say if you want a prologue, connect it to the story as soon as possible. :)

[JenNipps]

For me, I only like prologues that relate to the story real soon. I don't want to read a prologue, then have to wait about 100 to 150 pages to find out how the main story and the prologue relate. It takes away the feel of riding along with the story. I say if you want a prologue, connect it to the story as soon as possible. :)
In my case, I created a caste of dragons. You know which dragons belong to which caste by their color(s). That information is important to the story, but it's not possible to weave it in without leaving an infodump. I tried several different ways. So read the prologue or skip it, eventually at least part of it will be read to know which dragons are in which castes. But that's just how it ended up working for me. :)

[maestrowork]

My view is that you need to start your story in medias res. So a prologue that doesn't connect with the main story quickly (something that happened 1000 years ago and/or doesn't have much to do with the main story until page 227) would beat the purpose of "in medias res." And in case someone does skip the prologue, it should not have any impact on their enjoyment of the main story. So if you find yourself dumping a lot of information, characters, etc. in a 20-page prologue, you'd better ask yourself: Why?


Obviously, there are exceptions. I am sure there are great stories out there with a prologue that has nothing to do with the main story, or it relates to an event that happens later in the book. Again, the question is: does it work?

[AdamH]

I sort of see a prologue as a novel's version of a one-hour TV drama scene right at the beginning right before the opening credits and the show itself. It's sort of an attention grabber to suck you in. Personally, I think anything written in a prologue can be cleverly disposed throughout the novel. Not to say that it can't be done, I'm an advocate of the "write what you think works" school.

Having said that, I think a prologue should be shorter than your average chapter. If it's longer, why not just call it Chapter 1.

Also, I wonder if there's any connection between the popularity of TV dramas and the beginning of mainstream use of Prologues.

[Danger Jane]

Mine are quite short, about 1-3 pages. But while the reader might think the prologue in my current work it unnecessary at first, it sets up the story in a different way than the typical, and draws the reader in. The format for the normal story is diary entries, and it opens with the main character's daughter finding her mother's old diary. The prologue is kind of necessary for how I'm doing it.

[AncientEagle]

Maybe it's just that my Alzheimer's has kicked in again, but I could swear we had this same discussion a couple of months back. At first the anti-prologuers came on strong and almost overwhelmed the pro-prologuers. But the pros recovered, counterattacked, and almost waxed the antis, who then threw in the reserves and made one more all-out attack. Finally, though, the campaign ended pretty much in a draw. Apparently there was only a temporary cease-fire.

[Danger Jane]

You should write that into a book. lmao.

[Mistook]

This whole prologue issue always reminds me of the Spinal Tap guitar amp that goes to eleven.


If your prologue is a critical opening salvo, then why not just call it chapter one?

my understanding of prologues was that they aren't even written until the manuscript has been finished and accepted for publication, and that they're just a li'l something extra to lend a deeper insight into the text, but totally not required reading (like the Forward, and the copyright page, and that blank page before chapter 1). It's fluff... padding... filler.

[gp101]

I skip prologues longer than a couple pages. It's been my experience (as a fan of novels) that most of these longer prologues were unnecessary, or pretentious, or the result of a lazy writer that didn't want to put "vital" info somewhere else in the novel, whether in chunks or in one big wad, elsewhere in the book.

Not that any of us is a lazy writer. But I bet if you tried harder you could sneak in that prologue bits at a time. Like if you had a character in your story who didn't know what was going on and became the "eyes of the reader"; a mechanism to bring out relevant info (like the stuff in your prologue) that every character in your story already knows. Except for this newcomer you create.

[Danger Jane]

Prologues are part of the story. The stuff like forwards are like introductions or prefaces, written to give some insight into the story or the author or something. But I don't think they should be written off as "lazy". In some instances they're completely necessary.

[Julie Worth]

Maybe it's just that my Alzheimer's has kicked in again, but I could swear we had this same discussion a couple of months back. At first the anti-prologuers came on strong and almost overwhelmed the pro-prologuers. But the pros recovered, counterattacked, and almost waxed the antis, who then threw in the reserves and made one more all-out attack. Finally, though, the campaign ended pretty much in a draw. Apparently there was only a temporary cease-fire.

No Alzheimer's. Here it is:
Help! I’m being pursued by an angry prologue! (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13505)

[HapiSofi]

All the descriptions of prologues thus far have prompted me to one of two reactions. If they sound interesting, I feel they should be rechristened as Chapter One. The rest of them ought to be cut.

Look, here's the deal: no matter how you yourself feel about prologues, it should be obvious from the recurrent discussions here that a substantial number of your readers are going to skip anything labeled a prologue. That fact alone should be enough to clinch the argument. There's no use saying prologues are keen, prologues are swell, you like prologues and you think everyone else should like them too. If the information in the prologue is genuinely essential to an understanding of the book, then the prologue is the last place you should put it, because it won't get read there. If the prologue isn't essential, you should delete the sucker on general principles.

[icerose]

Prologues in books I have read have gone both ways. Some are just amazing and suck you right in, others are a snooze fest. If a prologue can grab me and is only a couple of pages long, I will read it. If its long and boring I skip it so fast it isn't even funny. If you feel you need a prologue, keep it interesting, to the point, and don't have any information in it you could otherwise find a place for it elsewhere in the story.

JMO

[James D. Macdonald]

An example of a prologue being called Chapter One is in the current Harry Potter novel. That entire chapter could have been cut without making a single difference to the story other than improving it.

(Chapter Two is a giant "As You Know Bob" infodump, but I suppose it's allowable in the sixth book of a seven-book series, since "Our Story So Far" has gone out of fashion.)

If you start reading with Chapter Three, I promise that you won't have missed a thing.

[Julie Worth]

Look, here's the deal: no matter how you yourself feel about prologues, it should be obvious from the recurrent discussions here that a substantial number of your readers are going to skip anything labeled a prologue.

Several ways around that. Make it short. Don't label it with the word prologue. And begin chapter one with a sentence that is obviously a continuation: Three years after Jack Mosley died...

[HapiSofi]

Forgive me, but it seems to me that you're missing my point. If a substantial number of your readers are prone to skip anything labeled a prologue, why take the risk at all? Why not just call the thing Chapter One?

[Julie Worth]

Forgive me, but it seems to me that you're missing my point. If a substantial number of your readers are prone to skip anything labeled a prologue, why take the risk at all? Why not just call the thing Chapter One?

I was temped to do that with my WIP, but the first chapter is a prologue, taking place a hundred years before the main story. I tried it both ways on a few readers, and they preferred it as a prologue (Though I actually call it The Flats, with the next chapter being Chapter One.)

[scribbler1382]

I'm still flummoxed at the idea of people skipping prologues. I mean, why the heck would someone do that? What could possibly be gained by NOT reading part of a book? Maybe it's our current instant message, MTV-visual-staccato society, but jeez. I see a similar thing at work when no one takes the minute or two needed to read provided instructions and then complains when they can't figure something out, lambasting the product as useless.

Sometimes I think if I cuffed everyone on the back of the head who needed it, I'd come home with a nub for a right arm after the first day.

:Headbang:

[cwfgal]

I'm still flummoxed at the idea of people skipping prologues. I mean, why the heck would someone do that?
:Headbang:

I'm with you. I've queried several reader friends (a half dozen or so, hardly a scientific sampling) on this matter and they all say they always read prologues, though only one so far says they ever read a foreword. Forewords, it seems, are often ignored but this board is the only place I've seen readers state they routinely skip prologues. I always read a prologue--to me it's merely an indication that whatever is happening in the prologue is somehow separate from, but important to, the rest of the story.

All three of my published novels had a prologue and no one -- not my agent, my editor, the copyeditor -- ever said anything about eliminating them or renaming them. No one even hinted at the idea. In the first and third books the reason for having a prologue was a huge time gap between that chapter and the rest of the book. In the second, the only reason for it was that the first chapter was told from a POV different from the rest of the book. Arugably, I could have labeled that one Chapter One, but I didn't and no one blinked.

Beth

[Bufty]

All three of my published novels had a prologue and no one -- not my agent, my editor, the copyeditor -- ever said anything about eliminating them or renaming them.

Beth

Why should they? They obviously considered you had a perfectly good reason for having a prologue.

The 'prologue issue' only arises for me where folk appear to have stuck a prologue in because it's 'the done thing' or 'flavour of the month'.

[icerose]

The reason why I don't read most prologues is because they don't feel like part of the story. They are often dumps of information that will either be guessed or weren't important to the book. It's like having an extra shoe in your closet, you just ignore it because it doesn't seem to fit anything else.

If it is the introduction to the story then it should be Chapter One and not a prologue even if it takes place hundreds of years before because it is where your story begins.

That's why I don't read them.

[cattywampus]

There's this about prologues:

All fiction-writers know you have to hook readers to pull them into the story. Same for the prologue. Start it with something compelling, how 'bout?

I use a prologue when I need to put in a sequential backstory (way back) which is important to the plot, but I do my best to make it interesting, short as possible, and set the tone for the entire story.

BTW, I had a perfect score at allexperts.com when some yo-yo wrote in asking the difference between a foreward, prologue and a preface. All I could do was give him the dictionary definition - if there is a different one, I've never heard it. He jerked my rating down 4 points, to 96. Does anyone know, and can maybe give a source?

[Mistook]

From Merriam Webster's Unabridged dictionary - current edition (online):
--------------------------------------------------------


Main Entry: 1pref·ace
Pronunciation: http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/primarystress.gifprefhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/schwadot.gifs
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): -s
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin prefatia, alteration of Latin praefation-, praefatio preliminary remarks, from praefatus (past participle of praefari to say beforehand, from prae- pre- + fari to say, speak) + -ion-, -io -ion -- more at BAN (http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged?book=Third&va=ban)
1 often capitalized : a eucharistic prayer of thanksgiving common to most Christian liturgies forming in the Roman rite an introduction to the canon
2 : the introductory remarks of a speaker or the author's introduction to a book usually explaining the object and scope of what follows : FOREWORD (http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged?book=Third&va=foreword), PROLOGUE (http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged?book=Third&va=prologue)

--------------------------------------------------------//

Main Entry: fore·word
Pronunciation: http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/primarystress.giffhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/omacr.gifrhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/secondarystress.gifwhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/schwa.gifrd, http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/primarystress.giffhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/odot.gifr-, -_whttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/schwa.gifrd; http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/primarystress.giffhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/omacr.gifhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/schwa.gifhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/secondarystress.gifwhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/schwamacr.gifd, http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/primarystress.giffhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/odot.gif(http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/schwa.gif)http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/secondarystress.gif-, -_whttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/schwa.gifd
Function: noun
Etymology: fore- + word; probably translation of German vorwort
: PREFACE; often : front matter likely to be of interest but not necessarily essential for the understanding of the text of a book and commonly written by someone other than the author of the text

--------------------------------------------------------//

Main Entry: 1pro·logue
Variant(s): also pro·log \http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/primarystress.gifprhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/omacr.gifhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/secondarystress.giflhttp://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/images/odot.gifg also -läg\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): -s
Etymology: Middle English prolog, prologe, from Old French prologue, prologe, from Latin prologus preface to a play, speaker of the preface, from Greek prologos prologos
1 : the preface or introduction to a discourse, performance, or nondramatic literary work
2 a (1) : a speech often in verse addressed to the audience by one or more of the actors at the opening of a play -- compare EPILOGUE (http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged?book=Third&va=epilogue) (2) : the actor speaking such a prologue b : the opening scene of a play whose main action is set within a separate frame

--------------------------------------------------------//

They're all the same thing, and they're all filler. I fail to see why a writer would torture her/himself over the perfect opening sentence to chapter one, and the perfect chapter to grab and hold the audience, if it's all going to be preceded by some lame info dump.

[cattywampus]

Yep. All the same thing. That's what I told him.

[Julie Worth]

Don’t go by the dictionary. A foreword is usually written by someone other than the author, and says something about the author or the book. As it doesn’t begin the story, it can be safely skipped. The Prologue is story, often summarized, that occurs before the main story, just as the epilogue is story that occurs after the main story.

[cattywampus]

Thank you, Mistook, and you too, Julie. That helped.

[Euan H.]

Well, after reading this, I went through and renumbered all the chapters in my WIP. It now starts at Chapter One--which is strangely enough identical to the prologue in the earlier version...

[alaskamatt17]

My favorite prologue is the one in Jurassic Park. You could easily skip it and not miss out on anything story-wise, but it's fun to read, so you really don't want to skip it.

I don't skip prologues; usually, I don't even skip introductions. I like to read whatever is in the book. I figure the author/publisher put it in there for a reason.

[Katiba]

I usually don't read prologues because I've found so many of them to be either info dumps or just unnecessary to the story. That said, I do usually glance at it, and if the first line or two is very compelling, I will read it. But I think this means that if an author wants to have a prologue, they need to have two very compelling openings, one for the prologue and one for chapter one, because they can't guarantee that everyone will read the prologue. And for me, one compelling opening is difficult enough!

I also really hate prologues that take place several hundred years before the action of the story. Because if they're compelling, I spend the rest of the book resenting the fact that I am never going to get to see more of these characters. And if they're not compelling, well, then I just don't read them.

And for the people who say, why would anyone skip something the author meant for you to read: well, I also skip info dumps and excessively long descriptive passages and dialogue that just repeats what I already know, and sometimes even boring subplots. And if I find I have to skip too much, I just stop reading altogether. The reader can do whatever he or she wants. It's the author's job to make him or her want to read the book.

[cattywampus]

I typed this once, but it didn't take.

Excellent commentary, Katiba (meaning, you agree with me LOL).

I would be very grateful if you would agree to read the first few pp of my prologue and tell me if you think it's compelling enough to read on. If you are willing to do this, please send me a private message.

Thanks.

[GPatten]

They're all the same thing, and they're all filler. I fail to see why a writer would torture her/himself over the perfect opening sentence to chapter one, and the perfect chapter to grab and hold the audience, if it's all going to be preceded by some lame info dump.

No, no. Not all prologues are fillers, and I don’t like the term: information dumps used when the objective is to provide information to the story at the beginning, when the story is unfolding.

For instance, if you were to write a murder story, a murder that took place in a modern imaginary city; would it be useful to provide the reader valuable information that the person who was murdered, was the daughter, or son of a person who was murdered many years before and that the perpetrator was responsible for both murders? (Something like that)

Maybe that imaginary city hasn’t had a murder since that first one. Now that’s a twist.

A few paragraphs revealing this is valuable information and as a prologue, would be a nice touch on setting the scene.

Sorry folks. It’s not an information dump! If prologues were the death of literature, then literature would not have used the term.

[aruna]

I'm still flummoxed at the idea of people skipping prologues. I mean, why the heck would someone do that? What could possibly be gained by NOT reading part of a book? Maybe it's our current instant message, MTV-visual-staccato society, but jeez. I see a similar thing at work when no one takes the minute or two needed to read provided instructions and then complains when they can't figure something out, lambasting the product as useless.

Sometimes I think if I cuffed everyone on the back of the head who needed it, I'd come home with a nub for a right arm after the first day.

:Headbang:

There's another prologue thread on this forum with a poll. That poll says that the great majority of those who took part DO read prologues. SO what's all the fuss about?
Three of my books do not have prologues. The fourth does; I have my reasons for that. The prologue, in fact, was, in an early draft, chapter one, but I realised that the only important thing about it was the first three paragraphs. So I kept those, cut the rest, and called the page a prologue. It could be called chapter 1 but as it's only three paragraphs long that's just pretentious. A reader who gets their knickers in a twist because of the label at the top of the first bit of writing they see should probably read the Da Vinci Code instead. I presume my readers will be independent enough to go to chapter one if they REALLY can't bear anything headed prologue. It's a prologue because it's short and because there's a long gap between what happened there and the events that start the story itself rolling - in chapter one.

Oh yes, and I did make sure that chapter one had a compelling opening as well.

[Bartel]

Well, after reading the posts in this and the other prologue thread I think I may have to relabel my prologues. Personally, I like the differentation that a prologue creates, but as my prologues generally contain my hooks it might become a bit problematic if people skipped them. Incidentally, I've never written a prologue as something tacked on after the fact. In fact, I think the prologues I have were the first scenes I wrote in those books. But I do agree with the sentiment toward info dumps. I can't help feeling that large sections of information are generally a bad idea in any part of the story. If it can't be worked into the story, perhaps a segment preceding the book instead of a prologue, ala Lord of the Rings.

[britwrit]

To be really annoyingly pretentious about it, a good prologue is like the overture to a symphony. It establishes the mood, sets the themes that'll be used throughout the novel and, if the author is lucky, draws the reader in.

On the other hand, a foreword is what you read an hour before your English final if you haven't bothered with the book itself. "Ah - so that's what Portrait of a Lady is about..."

[Torgo]

To be really annoyingly pretentious about it, a good prologue is like the overture to a symphony. It establishes the mood, sets the themes that'll be used throughout the novel and, if the author is lucky, draws the reader in.

Can't Chapter One do that? OK, if the first two things that happen in your story are widely separated in time, space, or narrative technique, then there's a case for calling the first bit a prologue. But there might also be a case for not leading the reader up the garden path with a bit of story that isn't going to go anywhere.

I'd like to reiterate my opinion that often prologues are added in because the author's worried that the start of the book is too slow or boring. "Perhaps if I put some action or mystery or eldritch horror up front," the thought process goes, "the reader will still be feeling excited or scared or baffled while I describe how the protagonist of the book wakes up and drives to work." Then, thirty pages in, the real story begins. Of course, the best solution is probably to cut those first thirty pages altogether.

Another reason might be "In order to fully understand the world and what's going on in my fantasy novel, people need to have a lot of back story up front. Otherwise, they won't get the full implications of the way Grignr the Barbarian skewers the palace guards." Well, fine, but does the reader need to fully understand everything that's going on at all times? It can sometimes take me about six reads to work out what the hell is going on in a Gene Wolfe or M John Harrison novel or short, but they're no worse off for that. (Having exquisite prose style helps, I suppose.)

In any case, there has to be a better way to deal with big chunks of exposition than hoicking them all out of the main text and putting it all in one mass. It needs a lighter touch than that.

[Julie Worth]

I'd like to reiterate my opinion that often prologues are added in because the author's worried that the start of the book is too slow or boring. "Perhaps if I put some action or mystery or eldritch horror up front," the thought process goes, "the reader will still be feeling excited or scared or baffled while I describe how the protagonist of the book wakes up and drives to work." Then, thirty pages in, the real story begins. Of course, the best solution is probably to cut those first thirty pages altogether.


Why do people write prologues? I wrote one for all the wrong reasons. One was because people thought my book was YA after reading the first chapter, and the prologue was definitely not YA. Then I deleted the first chapter, and the book wasn’t so YA anymore, but I kept the prologue (half of it, anyway) because it nicely foreshadows what happens in chapter 2 (now chapter 1), and resonates throughout the book, all the way to the end. I had bad reasons to write it, but now I think it works. It happens a hundred years before, so it is a prologue, but it’s short, it’s violent, and it’s not labeled with the word prologue. So I’m keeping it. You can’t make me do nothing, see, because I’m a writer.

[aruna]

In any case, there has to be a better way to deal with big chunks of exposition than hoicking them all out of the main text and putting it all in one mass. It needs a lighter touch than that.

But, who said that a prologue has to be exposition? Mine certainly isn't. My advice: keep it short, make it dramatic, let it be a hook. Make them hungry for more!

[Torgo]

Fair enough!

[Euan H.]

This thread got me thinking about something. All of Clive Cussler's books have prologues, but they're not labeled as such. In my copy of 'Flood Tide', there's a page with the heading 'Requiem for a Princess' (whole page, no other text), then a blank page, then the date 'December 10, 1948', followed by 16 pages of text. Then there's another whole page heading 'Part I, the Killing Water', then another blank, and then the heading '1' for the first chapter, followed by the date April 14, 2000 and the rest of chapter 1.

So, there's a prologue (like there is in all his books), but it's not labeled as such. So...for all the people who said they skip prologues, have you ever read a Clive Cussler book, and did you skip the (unlabled) prologue?

Just curious if your skipping the prologue is just a matter of it being labeled 'prologue'...