Prologue dilema

JackieA said:

Between the first and second written chapters I have a gap of eleven years, so made the first chapter a prologue. But...
it is over 5k words long!!!!

Is that unacceptably long?
If so, how can I create a smooth transactions of the time gap between the two chapters?

Any help gratefully received

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I just checked the word count on the one prologue I've had -- computer word count is right around 1300 words. 7 pages by the 250 words per page method.

So, yes, yours sounds a bit long. And the fact that it's 11 years earlier -- you have to ask yourself, brutally, if you're absolutely certain that the story starts at that 11 years earlier point, that the reader absolutely MUST "see" that happen, and "see" it as the opening -- or if your story wouldn't be better served with opening it in the "now" and weaving in that prologue carefully through backstory.

It's not an easy call to make. It's something for you to think about. Perhaps get some input from some other writers.

Good luck!

Susan G.

Just a thought...Could you maybe label it Part One, rather than Prologue, or something along those lines? Maybe split it into a couple chapters, then start the next section as Part Two. Just write at the top of the first chapter of part two "11 years later". I see that done a lot.

It does seem overly long for a prologue and would be long for one "chapter" but I tend to be a fan of shorter chapters. I think it makes for a quicker read and because I'm one of those people that has a hard time putting a book down only at the end of chapters. And I don't have a lot of reading time...

A lot of times, the prologue isn't really necessay for the reader -- it's backstory -- but it's necessary for the author to write and then brutally cut from the final manuscript. As Susan suggested, make sure that's not the case.

Most people will tell you that a prologue, if absolutely necessary, should be kept in the 2-3 page range, far less than the 20 pages you've got. That's two or three average-length scenes, which is really a lot for a prologue. Not that you can't do it, but make sure it's not backstory and it's absolutely necessary to start the book there, rather than starting when the inciting event happens -- the thing that causes the protagonist to act now, rather than eleven years ago -- and then dropping little bits of info about that past event in the story's "now."

You might pop on over to SYW and check out the thread on "bring out your prologues" for more discussion of the pros and cons (mostly cons) of prologues.

JD, who's usually allergic to prologues.

To prologue or not to prologue....

In a couple of novels I wrote I've put in a prologue, been encouraged to take it out by people in the know.

Frankly, after I've taken it out, in a few months, I don't even miss it and wondered why I wanted a prologue. It doesn't seem to be popular, but it's up to you. After a while it doesn't seem to fit right.

IMHO, try to do without, unless you're a multi-published famous author of course ) hee hee and you need to desperately put that Prologue in

As for rearranging the time gap? Well, maybe a rearrangement of the times between chapter 1 and 2, or starting your story at a different time? Or how about putting in Chapter 1 at the end, The subtitle ***Eleven years later*
or somewhere like that...I'm at a loss, (big shrug)

Listening to what the sages in AW forum have to say is best.

Your prologue of 5000 words is a little long, again IMHO

Cheers Josie

I have a prolologue in the story I'm cleaning up right now, but it's less than 2k words in length. I've been told I should probably cut it out entirely, but it's pretty detrimental to the story and it covers both the heroine and the hero's POV.

If you can either whittle it down or cut it, that may be your best bet. Unless you absolutely, positutely NEED to have it. Hope I was a little helpful.

I've tried to get rid of my prologue because so many people say they're bad but in reality, I can't. It is the action that starts the story. It would start pretty boring if I dropped it.

But it's only 4 pages...

kristie911 said:

I've tried to get rid of my prologue because so many people say they're bad but in reality, I can't. It is the action that starts the story. It would start pretty boring if I dropped it.

But it's only 4 pages...

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I understand what you mean. If I dropped mine, no one would understand why my heroine was going to a prison ranch or why she was such a b**ch. Or later on who her ex-fiancé was. Mine wound up being 7 pages. Too short for a chapter, but a smidgen long for a prologue. Man, I'm long winded.

Exactly! Sometimes they are necessary. My prologue is a scene where my MC is getting beaten up by her boyfriend and this is what causes her flight across the country. Without it, it just doesn't make a lot of sense. And the scene is pretty grabbing. The first chapter starts with her running out of money and gas...which would be kind of a boring place to start. Especially because you wouldn't know why it was significant.

<whew> I'm far more long-winded than you!

I really have no advice since I am just a beginner and I’m wondering the same thing in my WIP. As of now I have a prolog it’s a short (under 1,000 words) fun scene gives the reader a look at one side of the male mc they don’t see for a while and hints at something traumatic in his past.
It also has my favorite line so I’m not sure if it’s necessary or if I just like it.

Tela

My prologue is a scene where my MC is getting beaten up by her boyfriend and this is what causes her flight across the country. Without it, it just doesn't make a lot of sense. And the scene is pretty grabbing. The first chapter starts with her running out of money and gas...which would be kind of a boring place to start.

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The problem with starting like this in a prologue -- and everyone knows that I'm anti-prologue, so take my comments with a bunch of salt, but please do consider them -- is that, in general, we don't care much about a person who's being hurt unless we already know the person. That sounds callous, and it's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's human nature. If our sister (or brother, mother, child, etc.) is being hurt, we're much more likely to go ballistic than if, say, someone on the other side of the world is being hit or even a stranger is being hit. So, starting with a character being pummeled is actually less emotional than you might think, if we don't already care about the character.

Now, consider the running out of gas scenario. We've got a character, and she seems interesting in the first sentence (that's the hard part of charcterization, to make the character real and interesting quickly, so I'll leave that up to you), so we read the next sentence, and we realize she's got a problem (running out of gas), and she's doing something about it presumably (we like people who are pro-active, rather than passive), and we can start to settle into her skin, decide that she'd be fun to hang out with for a while, see if she can resolve her problem (getting gas). And there are hints being dropped that she's running away from a serious situation (the beating), perhaps she covers up the bruise on her wrist so people won't see it or whatever, so the reader knows that there's a bigger problem (the beating and the boyfriend) lurking in the background, so the reader turns the page to find out what that bigger problem is, and how the character is going to solve it. I don't need to see the beating to understand it, and the real story is in how the protagonist copes with the fall-out from the beating.

Dole out the important stuff (from the past) in dribs and drabs, showing the protagonist coping with it, and it's often actually more effective, more emotional, than dumping it all on the first page, where you've given away all the suspense/mystery about the character, which removes some of the impetus to continue reading.

Often, writers need to write the prologue to fully understand the backstory -- we're writers, after all, and we wrap our minds around stuff by writing about it -- but the reader doesn't need to know that until it's relevant to the current story.

JD

Good advice, Jan. Gives me something to think about.

In the prologue debate I always come back to the fact that I've written countless prologues throughout the years, and not once has my agent, any editor, or any reader told me that any prologue shouldn't have been there.

Have I discovered, on my own, that a prologue was unnecessary and decided to cut it? Yes. Maybe half a dozen times in a couple of decades. But most of the time those prologues served their purpose as part of the story, and cutting them would have been a mistake.

All I'm saying is that every author needs to write his or her book the way that author and that book works best. A prologue is a tool. Adverbs and adjectives are tools. Big words and small words are tools. Commas and ellipses and semi-colons and dashes are tools.

Use the tools you need to tell your story. There's no right way or wrong way to do that, as long as the story works.

And that includes how long a prologue or a chapter -- or a paragraph or a sentence -- needs to be. It needs to be as long as it needs to be; there are no arbitrary rules to follow.

Just tell the story.

JackieA said:

Is that unacceptably long?

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For this grumpy editor--yes.

As a reader I skip all prologues unless they're written by Professor Tolkein.

As a writer, I avoid writing them.

As an editor I give an internal groan and wonder why the writer doesn't just *start* the dang story.

Five-K words is a huge investment in time for a reader to expect her to fast forward 11 years.

I would recommend the "Part One" suggestion--only if you absolutely must.

Otherwise, strip things down and figure out the absolute basic information you are getting across to the reader in those pages. Itemize each necessary plot point (forget introduction of characters here).

Figure out how to insert those needed points into the main body of your book without it turning into a data dump.

EX:

In the section formerly known as "The Prologue:"

A meets B, they have a sweaty night together.

Chapter One: It's eleven years later; A has a 10 y.o. kid.

B shows up.

Hijinks ensue.

I'd really rather see things starting with "B shows up, oh, hey--A's kid looks a lot like B!"

Once upon a time prologues had their place. Readers did not have distractions like TV, vid games, iPods, whatever. They could take their time over a book and didn't mind a lengthy introduction.

Things are different now. You're writing for a competitive market and have to win a reader over from your first sentence. Some writers still insist on a prologue and some editors let them get away with it. But in general those writers have an established readership and the editors are in the "more is better" midset. The writer is making money, so don't rock the boat.

Though there are always exceptions, the best course for a neo is just plunge into the story and get on with things! Hook me and make me hate to put the book down.

The run out of gas scenario doesn't bother me at all. I prefer it over a violence-against-a-woman scene, which is personally off-putting to me.

How she deals with the minor crisis should give us a clue as to how she will deal with a major crisis.

Hi Jackie,
I know there are lots of people who don't like prologues for one reason or another, but as an avid reader since 1964, I do read prologues and I figure they're there because they're an important part of the story. There again, I like films that last 3 hours or so too. If I like a story and it's characters, I can never say it's too long, finishing a good book or film is like saying goodbye to an old friend. I never read or write short fiction either, give me something to get my teeth in to.
But saying all that; do as a few others have said on here and use the prologue as chapter one or the first part of the book, this is what I am doing in one of mine too, as this part is very important to the plot.


Elodie

In my first novel I wrote a prologue then moved it into the story further down the line, wrote a new prologue then deleted that one then when i thought the novel was done went back through and put a new one in that fit it perfectly. Sometimes its better not to begin with a prologue till you are done and determine if one is truly needed.

I actually like a good prologue in a book, one that makes you wonder and I do read all prologues, most before I buy the book. If I picked up a book with a beating in the prologue I would assume there was a good amount of violence in the story and decide it wasn't and put it back on the shelf. On the other hand if the story started with the same woman fleeing after a beating I'd buy it. Just my preference.

It seems to me the difference is the strength of the character. It takes a very strong woman to leave a controlling abusive relationship, right from the first word I'm cheering for her.

Tela

When I first started writing, I had a prologue in every story. After awhile, I moved away from using them. For me, the beginning of the story is crucial - it is the absolute moment when you pull in your reader and reveal some of the conflict to come. I don't rely on a prologue anymore to "set the stage" for the story; I jump right into that first moment and reveal any backstory (which is usually what the prologue is) later on, through dialogue or inner thought or even flashback...of course, there's a whole camp who would say that flashbacks are over-used or inappropriate, too.