Prologue Question

[StevenJ]

Does a prologue have to consist of one complete scene? I would like to include three relations of differing events in the novella I'm writing, and I wondered if there are any 'hard and fast' rules concerning the form of prologues.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide :)

Steve

[IdiotsRUs]

No no don't say the P word - you've no idea! *hides head in hands and gibbers quietly to self*

It doesn't have to be one scene. There's no law on it :) It's up to you. Do what works for the story.

[StevenJ]

No no don't say the P word - you've no idea!


Ah, I take it that prologues are rather passé, perhaps? :D

Thanks very much for the help, IdiotsRUs :)

[IdiotsRUs]

Nope not at all. I like them, as long as they are relevant and not an info dump.

However - there is always a big *ahem* debate here whether books actually need prologues, and why don't you just call it chapter one, and people who never read prologues and...It's just safer never to say the P word. ;)

[StevenJ]

I see :D

Bah, to Hell with readers & their preferences! I'm an artiste & shall write my awful stories my own way! :D :D :D

[Smiling Ted]

You can do anything you want with a prologue.
Except for telling it by using ColorForms stuck to the pages.
Sure, McSweeney's SAYS they're looking for something fresh and innovative, but when the rubber hits the road...mutter, mutter, mutter...

[StevenJ]

Thanks, Ted :)

[Telstar]

Does a prologue have to consist of one complete scene? I would like to include three relations of differing events in the novella I'm writing, and I wondered if there are any 'hard and fast' rules concerning the form of prologues.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide :)

Steve

The only rule in writing is that there is no rule.
Which means that anything can work if done well, really well.

Now, what do you want to do? One scene? One half-scene that ends with a cliffhanger? Do it. If it works, kudos. If it doesnt, rewrite.

Lastly, because there are a lot of prologue-haters on this board, ask yourself if you think the prologue is the right thing for your novel, or it can just be the first chapter.

[StevenJ]

Thanks for the advice, Telstar :)
Seeing as my novella is written in an old-fashioned style (it's set in Victorian times), I felt that a prologue would be rather fitting.

Thanks again :)

[The Lonely One]

However - there is always a big *ahem* debate here whether books actually need prologues, and why don't you just call it chapter one, and people who never read prologues and...It's just safer never to say the P word. ;)


In my instance, the prologue is only a page long, and it's sort of an abstract look at my three MC's, though not where I wanted to start the book. A reader could skip past it (though it's only like 250 words) and still get the gist of the book. If it were chapter one, I'd want it to be written so it couldn't be removed without crumbling the plot to pieces. Definitely not an info dump, since no real information relevant to the plot comes out (like a complex back story or anything like that). It's more of a forward, I suppose, really.

So to answer the question -- I don't know that there are rules for prologues. I tend to just write things how I write them and usually it turns out just fine. I would write the prologue how you had envisioned it then revisit this topic with specific questions on what didn't work, or post it in SYW.

Cheers.

[Bufty]

Lonely One - have a hot cup of tea and a lie-down - that usually works for me when my fingers become disconnected from my brain. :Hug2:

In my instance, the prologue is only a page long, and it's sort of an abstract look at my three MC's, though not where I wanted to start the book. A reader could skip past it (though it's only like 250 words) and still get the gist of the book. If it were chapter one, I'd want it to be written so it couldn't be removed without crumbling the plot to pieces. Definitely not an info dump, since no real information relevant to the plot comes out (like a complex back story or anything like that). It's more of a forward, I suppose, really.

So to answer the question -- I don't know that there are rules for prologues. I tend to just write things how I write them and usually it turns out just fine. I would write the prologue how you had envisioned it then revisit this topic with specific questions on what didn't work, or post it in SYW.

Cheers.

[Skye Jules]

My prologue is four pages--about 1,000 words. Do whatever you want with it as long as it is absolutely required. With my prologue, I start off with the antagonist, then on chapter one, I pick up with the protagonist. Several chapters later, I pick up right where the prologue left off.

A prologue does not need to be a prologue like in the Luxe. All the prologues in the Luxe basically do is reinforce a scene that IS and WILL happen later in the novel. A prologue does not need to reveal your philosophies about what is going to happen in the book.

Easiest thing to do: Just ask yourself, is it needed?

[The Lonely One]

Lonely One - have a hot cup of tea and a lie-down - that usually works for me when my fingers become disconnected from my brain. :Hug2:

I apologize if I misunderstand what you mean, but:

I meant what I said and I said it with a clear head -- I wrote a prologue that could be taken right out of the story and no one would know it was missing. It's just an intro piece, not something people will get bogged down in. I see nothing wrong with it.

In "Something Wicked" Bradbury's prologue is about the two boys and their age (13), and it gives an insight into the boys, but one which might needlessly encumber the reader if it were written in the first chapter (it would belabor the plot). If someone took out that first page, no one would know. But after reading it, I wouldn't want Bradbury to have removed it.

"First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys. Not that all months aren't rare. But there be bad and good, as the pirates say. Take September...."

This concept comes out in the book, and it's immediately mentioned in chapter 1 that it's October.

"At that time, James Nightshade of 97 Oak Street was thirteen years, eleven months, twenty-three days old. Next door, William Halloway was thirteen years, eleven months and twenty-four days old. Both touched towards fourteen; it almost trembled in their hands.

And that was the October week when they grew up overnight, and were never so young any more...."

Is this section really "needed"? Not really. But it certainly is a nice accent.

That's why I think rules go out the window at the warm clay aka the keyboard. People can come up with "what works" but really, what works in fiction is passion. I honestly believe any rule you can come up with means nothing once the right hands get a hold of that rule and throw it away with style.

It's like, "yeah, that's a good idea but screw that, look what happens when I make you feel this." I think it's that way with grammar, I think it's that way with conventions, I think it's that way with unusual style (things like present tense), and I think prologues don't escape that idea. It doesn't need to be needed, it needs to be wanted. Readers need to read it and say, I really liked that. It put me in the right mood to read this novel.

And that's not to insult anyone who feels differently. My opinion certainly isn't an exclusive viewpoint, and I would urge that I'm not trying to come off as elitist. Just passionate.

[MumblingSage]

You can do anything you want with a prologue.
Except for telling it by using ColorForms stuck to the pages.
Sure, McSweeney's SAYS they're looking for something fresh and innovative, but when the rubber hits the road...mutter, mutter, mutter...
But what about being an artiste!?

Re the 'needed' debate: Sometimes a section might not be necessary for pure storytelling purposes, but it still can be important for revealing character, establishing tone, or just to draw the reader into a good, entertaining story. And therefore you could say the story 'needs' that part, even though the story itself could go without it. The story itself can go without a lot of things. However, when you go purely without the non-necessities, you tend to wind up with an 'outline'.

[Feidb]

Almost all of my stories start with a prologue of some event in the past that triggers the story in present time. The big setup.

I personally like prologues if they are not, as one of you said, an info dump or a history lesson, or more than say, eight pages long.

Most of my prologues also have multiple scenes, but some are just one. Whatever works.

[Varthikes]

I have a prologue in both of my current WIPs. Each contain two scenes.

[JJ Cooper]

Sure - no hard and fast rules. But, concentrate on what the reader wants if you want to publish your story, and not what you want as the writer.

JJ

[StevenJ]

Thanks, all :)

[StevenJ]

I've posted the prologue in SYW now. Any opinions will be gratefully received :)

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2917022#post2917022