Prologues

[Colbey Frost]

Before I started writing my book I decided that I didn't want a prologue but now that i've finished I feel it would be good to explain certain things in the book that i can't do without info dumping (as not needed to drive story forward).

I would like people to share the history and explain some things though, but as I write a prologue i'm finding it all very difficult; to info dump / create background without it seeming like like that. I could just forget about it but now there's a nice twist been included and it would feel like a shame not to do one...

Would someone teaching someone else facts; introducing information through dialogue be better? I know it needs to read like a first chapter with a hook etc.

Am I bad for not being able to include this within my book without info dumping or is it ok? And would it be ok to do a prologue at start of first book and epilogue at end of second? Two books in total.

 

[L D Warne]

Re: prologue's

To be honest, it can be a difficult choice.

I wrote a 22 page prologue for the book I'm working on at the moment, but I felt it provided a little too much background information and removed it. I cut it down to a single page and it meant that it left the reader guessing on a few points in the early chapters.

My first chapter is about a character that the reader now knows very little about and I can incorporate parts of my deleted prologue through the book in terms of flashbacks / dreams to fill in any areas that I feel still need to be included.

I suppose it depends on what content you have in your prologue to start with.

 

[Michelle Ann]

Re: prologue's

I think the only way to find out if it will work is to try it. I understand what you mean, info dumps can be a pain in the backside.

I think bringing it out in dialogue would be good (depending on the subject matter) and if you have a twist, then it could work very well.

I would say try it and see if it works for you.

 

[morgan]

Re: prologue's

I'm not a fan of prologues, mostly because, before I started writing myself, I used to skip them. Chances are you'll have readers who do that too. On the other hand, they can be helpful.

Does the information need to be delivered all at once? Because it's really not bad at all to slip the reader important information if it doesn't take away from anything. Having someone teach someone else facts could work, but be careful. If you're only writing it to get the information across, people are going to pick up on it, in which case it's better to just state it outright.

Maybe find a book that you really like (with a complex history behind it) and read the first chapter or two very carefully, paying close attention to how they deliver information. If it's a popular book, you know they did something right.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

 

[Anne Martin]

Re: prologue's

My take on prologues is that it shouldn't be a mere recounting of "what has gone on before." If it is that important, shouldn't you flesh it out in a novel (or three) on its own?

Instead, I suggest treating it as an enigmatic scene amongst characters that may not appear in the story itself, but in its history. Then it should provide a eureka moment for the reader later on when it becomes relevant. It becomes a useful hook. I have more than once forced myself to continue reading a book I didn't like solely on the basis of the prologue hook. In one case, I found myself enjoying the whole book in the end, although in another, I put it down as soon as the prologue hook was resolved.

The prologue should only be there if it needs to be, otherwise it is just filler (infodump). Why start a story with a history lesson, when you can start up with a bang, and drip feed the history as it becomes necessary?

 

[Robsia]

Re: prologue's

I have a prologue which introduces the main character by someone else discovering her in the bath having tried to commit suicide by slitting her wrists. There is a little bit of information given about her, mainly that she lives in a mansion, is thin and beautiful and is a total b!tch.

Then in my first chapter, we jump back a couple of years to find the same character, but two years ago she was on the large side, a lovely person and not rich at all. The first half of the book tells the story of how she got to the point of being rich, thin and beautiful, but also so depressed that she tries to commit suicide.

The second half of the book, which hasn't been written yet, is where the reader will find out if she survives, which she does, and how she gets her life back on track again and eventually finds happiness.

So I think in this case, there is the need for a prologue, although I am disturbed to find out that some readers skip them - I certainly don't, as they are part of the story. Maybe I need to call it something else.

 

[Colbey Frost]

Re: prologue's

although I am disturbed to find out that some readers skip them - I certainly don't, as they are part of the story. Maybe I need to call it something else.

Thinking about it now, i actually skip prologue's but only if they bore me. So from the advice on here so far i think i'll create one as it will tie into story later, but use it as teaser in terms of history etc and introduce the rest into my book slowly.

I'm excited to write a prologue but think it wouldn't have worked if i hadn't of already written the book.

Do people normally write a prologue first? Super organised people?

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Re: prologue's

If it was going to look like info dumping in the body of the work, then it will be worse at the front, all in one lump.

What's more if it is even slightly dumpy it may put someone of the book, in which case - no sale.

Bury it in the novel. Let them be annoyed when they've spent the cash. That way they will just skim over it if it's too much.

Plus, if it all needs to be, or is, explained before the book is read, then what's the point of the book.

 

[Robsia]

Re: prologue's

Do people normally write a prologue first? Super organised people?

I have written the prologue first, as the structure of the book demanded it.

However, as the book evolves, there are some things I will be changing in the prologue when I go back and edit. The basic facts will remain the same, but some of the details need altering. In fact there are quite a few things in the body of the book that I contradict later on, so I am making notes as I go as to what I need to go back and change.

 

[Kyndylan]

Re: prologue's

Not that I've ever written one, but from reading them I agree entirely with Anne Martin and Robsia - it's fine if it's a scene that explains something, even if it appears disconnected from Chapter One. I'd avoid something like Lord of the Rings epic five-part prologue, which I think I only got round to at the third or fourth time of asking!

 

[Colbey Frost]

Re: prologue's

Ok ok, next question.

If my prologue is 30 years in the past (i've decided to come away from info dumping now and it will be subtle and then continued in the book) then do i have to somehow say its thirty years in the past?

What if the at the start of my book its not clear? I suppose i could have the character mention when xxx xxx happened 30 years ago? or can i put in title somewhere or? you know?

 

[Chaoticheart]

Re: prologue's

Ok ok, next question.

If my prologue is 30 years in the past (i've decided to come away from info dumping now and it will be subtle and then continued in the book) then do i have to somehow say its thirty years in the past?

What if the at the start of my book its not clear? I suppose i could have the character mention when xxx xxx happened 30 years ago? or can i put in title somewhere or? you know?

There are two potential ways of doing it that I'm quite fond of:

1. You don't give the reader any info about it in the prologue itself, but instead have a few references to it throughout the book which establish an approximate timeframe.

2. If you've got a dating system for the world, you could start the prologue & chapters with the dates. e.g.

***

Prologue
​

Autumn, 452nd year after the founding.

​

blah, blah, blah.

***


Though even if using option 2, I personally would use option one as well.

 

[Colbey Frost]

Re: prologue's

There are two potential ways of doing it that I'm quite fond of:

1. You don't give the reader any info about it in the prologue itself, but instead have a few references to it throughout the book which establish an approximate timeframe.

2. If you've got a dating system for the world, you could start the prologue & chapters with the dates. e.g.

***

Prologue​

Autumn, 452nd year after the founding.​

blah, blah, blah.

***


Though even if using option 2, I personally would use option one as well.

I like the idea of the second one but would that work on a smaller scale? Because if you use it at start then you would be expected to use it all the way till the end but my book has no large lapses in time, days, weeks at most? Would it work on a smaller scale?

 

[Chaoticheart]

Re: prologue's

Maybe. If you had 'parts' or 'books' as well as chapters. Then you could use the dating for the prologue and as part of a small passage at the beginning of each part.

 

[Robsia]

Re: prologue's

My Time Watchers book took place in three different time periods. Usually each change of period coincided with a new chapter.​

So my first chapter heading read:​

CHAPTER ONE​

Torquay, circa 7,000 BCE​

And then my second one read:​

CHAPTER TWO​

London, Thursday June 1st CE 2361​

I think once the two main time periods were established, I reverted to the 'the past'and 'the future', making the assumption that the reader was intelligent enough to work it out.​

The third time period (2006) was introduced in Part 2 of the book and I used the same principle.​

If it's important enough for the reader to know the exact time, tell them in as simple a form as possible. If there is a significant jump in time during the narrative, you could put something like:​

"A year later they still weren't pregnant. Each month of that endless twelve for Siobhan had been divided into a week of carefully planned sex, two weeks of anxious waiting and a week of bitter disappointment. Ian was struggling to adjust to his new role as a sperm donor and had started to display an unexpected resentment to Siobhan's expectations that he perform on demand."​

Or something like that.​

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Re: prologue's

Ok ok, next question.

If my prologue is 30 years in the past (i've decided to come away from info dumping now and it will be subtle and then continued in the book) then do i have to somehow say its thirty years in the past?

What if the at the start of my book its not clear? I suppose i could have the character mention when xxx xxx happened 30 years ago? or can i put in title somewhere or? you know?

One way would be to have the birth of a child in the prologue and then skip to the thirtieth birthday preparations. Although thirty is pushing it a bit.

You could possibly get away with the death/funeral of the main prologue participant. You could have the some guy address the church with his memories of the time he, and the dead guy, did whatever the prologue was about.

The fish were definitely not interested it Joel's attempts...

As the Battle cruiser swept overhead...


Sqirshfurkle, the leader of the Spogwandee, collapsed, choking violently on the fish hook as Joel tugged violently on the fishing rod, mercilessly driving the hook further into Sqishfurkle's throat...

***​

Chapter 1​

You all know me, Grutt the Thrower, as I'm known. It is with great sadness that I welcome to this, Joel's passing celebration. Joel was a fine man. You might know, some called him The *******. However, I can know reveal that it is only through his efforts that we are here today. It was thirty years ago....

Of course, this type of chapter is one way to mingle the details of the prologue into the plot without having the prologue at all.

You can assemble your main characters in the congregation. Get the interplay and roles established, and then have the sermon reveal those important facts to both the reader and the characters.

Events that take place in a prologue hundreds of years ago can be revealed in 'saga telling' or internet research (where you can just reproduce the facts as pure info dump, pictures and all if you wished - describing the accompanying photo, that is.)

Similar to the way they did it in the film 'Thor'

I still maintain that prologues should be avoided.

As Kyndylan mentioned, LOR's prologue was skipped four times - I didn't even know there was one. So if the info that is absolutely essential to understanding the book...

I think this is fairly normal for most readers.

Oh, a prologue, well I can skip that and come back to it.

Personally prologues come in to that section of a book that I refer to when I need a bookmark. The cover goes first of course. However, as I get more into the book they invariably get lost, so I have to look for other stuff to use. The prologue is a good source of bookmark as occasionally, you pick up a few pertinent facts when you're looking for where you left the book last time.

However, I usually just skip the prologue by just not buying the book, if it has one.

One exception to this is a book in a series. If I got hooked by the first one then I may read the prologue to the second. These are sometimes useful to remind me of what went on before: If it throws in a few extras as well,l OK.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

My first (rough) plan for writing THS involved a fairly lengthy prologue, after which the story would move ahead 19 years. It ended up being so very lengthy that I had to divide it up into several chapters, and the book into two parts. On the other hand, when my publisher asked me to add something at the beginning of another book several years earlier, it was short enough to stay a prologue. For that one, the interval between the prologue and the first chapter was about 30 years.

I think you should just write, and see how long it needs to be. Once you have it, you can decide what to call it. Or maybe decide that it would all work out better as backstory that you reveal bit by bit as the story progresses.

Some things you just have to try out to see how they work. You can plan and plan, but in practice they work out differently than you expected.

 

[HareBrain]

Re: prologue's

Maybe I need to call it something else.

This is the tactic I've decided to try, because there are some pretty ardent prologue-haters out there. I'm almost one of them. I have to confess, my heart sinks a little on seeing that word above the first chunk of text in a novel.

I wouldn't mind if people skipped my prologue at first and went straight to ch1, and then read the prologue after a chapter or two, to make sense of a couple of things. That might even be my preferred reading order. But it would be impossible to order the novel that way, so in the front it has to go.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Something else ... each of my first three books started with a Chapter 0.

 

[HareBrain]

Something else ... each of my first three books started with a Chapter 0.

That idea crossed my mind too, but of course I don't know if the thinking behind it was the same. Where yours prologues by another name, in terms of function and whatnot? Did you call them ch0 because you wanted them to be prologues but not call them prologues? Did it generate any comment from publishers or readers? (Assuming you mean your first three published books.)