O, Dreaded Prologue!

[blairmacg]

Common talk (and just about every critique group and workshop) says a writer should never use a prologue because prologues are so often written poorly. But… first chapters are often written poorly, too, as are fight scenes, descriptions, character backstory, depictions of horses, near-future science, and final chapters. But we do not advise writers

Comments

[marycatelli]

I was always warned against prologues because readers are prejudiced against hem and may skip assuming it contains nothing of importance.

Which can be a problem for the story if it doesn't.

[blairmacg]

I've heard that, too. But after hearing most of the prologue-adversity from readers who also analyze craft rather than readers who read as readers, I've found it less than compelling. :)

(And I had a whole section in this post on prologue perceptions between writing/publishing pros and general readership, but decided to pull it at the last minute. ;-)

[sartorias]

I think the tone is often off in prologues. The excerpt from the Encyclopedia Fantastica references are useful for more than just wodges of data, it's the neutral tone they are told in. I wonder if that supper with the Old One informing the young one had a pleasant, neutral feel to it, too.

The prologues that no one seems to complain about are funny ones, (Terry Pratchett), or ones in which the characters, and thence the readers, are desperate for the information.

[blairmacg]

I think the tone is often off in prologues. The excerpt from the Encyclopedia Fantastica references are useful for more than just wodges of data, it's the neutral tone they are told in.

Yeeeeesss. I love prologues (and omni voices, for that matter!) that have a clear attitude and perspective of their own, though then the challenge becomes to make it the voice of the piece (Chorus) rather than an intrusive authorial voice, I think.

I wonder if that supper with the Old One informing the young one had a pleasant, neutral feel to it, too.

Hmm... No I'm going to go back and look!

The prologues that no one seems to complain about are funny ones, (Terry Pratchett), or ones in which the characters, and thence the readers, are desperate for the information.

Yes, and yes!

[queenoftheskies]

I like prologues where we witness something that happened to/shaped our protagonist before the story.

I find them useless if they just portray backstory that doesn't involve characters within the story I'm reading.

But, that is just a personal opinion.

[blairmacg]

Personal opinions are what it's all about, truly.

You're a reader as much as a writer. :)

If you're willing, I'd love to hear you expand on the character/non-character thoughts.

[queenoftheskies]

One of the best prologues I ever read (a long time ago) showed me a character growing up in another country and the horror (literally--this was a horror book) his family experienced when he was a child.

Flash forward to chapter 1 of the book in the present day. We known something is up right away. We also suspect this character is going to be forced to face his greatest fear at some point in this book.

What is going to happen? We hope he'll overcome it...but HOW?

This really worked for me. It added rising tension and drama (the good kind) to the novel. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the point in the story where he encountered that evil face to face.

At first, he didn't realize what it was, but we, the readers had a pretty good idea of what it was.

So, to me, if a prologue ADDS TO the story, then I think, by all means, it belongs. If it involves characters, I think it can add depth to the character, as well as depth, tension, conflict to the story. I think it can add foreshadowing

[blairmacg]

Valuable thoughts! I love the way you described that prologue and why it worked for you. :)

But, if it's not something necessary to the story that's just there because the author can't figure out another way to get that information into the story, then I think, sometimes, it's lazy writing. If that makes sense.

Oh, of course. That's why the prologue--any prologue--must have a purpose outside of information communication. It must have another reason to exist.

As a final thought, I MUCH prefer prologues to flashbacks scattered throughout the novel. Thoughts about what happened before don't bother me. And, some writers can pull off actual flashbacks. But, generally, flashbacks drag me out of the story like crazy, when a prologue would give me the information up front.