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Puma
07-04-2006, 06:28 AM
The role of the Prologue (And Epilogue) User NameRemember Me?Password FAQ (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/faq.php)Members List (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/memberlist.php)Calendar (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/calendar.php)Mark Forums Read (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?do=markread)

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Thread Tools (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/) http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/images/statusicon/post_old.gif 06-09-2006, 08:42 AM Sc00t (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/member.php?u=4749) vbmenu_register("postmenu_636138", true);
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The role of the Prologue (And Epilogue)
It's a simple question really. I can see the need for a prologue (and/or epilogue) in a novel... I can understand the role of it, but i just can't explain it to myself in the context of writing rather than reading.

When approaching a novel the first thing you write, presumably, is the prologue. Now, does this act as a hook, or does it act as an introduction top the protagonist or what? I don't know why (heaven knows I've read enough of the sodding things!) but i just cant say to myself "this prologue does this." the way that i would say "this light switch turns that light bulb on." if you understand my analogy.

thanks a lot. :)

-sc00t
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I know Uncle Jim talks a lot about prologues. You may want to check the index and see what he has to say. He makes the role of a prologue very clear...

Good Luck!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sc00t
It's a simple question really. I can see the need for a prologue (and/or epilogue) in a novel... I can understand the role of it, but i just can't explain it to myself in the context of writing rather than reading.

When approaching a novel the first thing you write, presumably, is the prologue. Now, does this act as a hook, or does it act as an introduction top the protagonist or what? I don't know why (heaven knows I've read enough of the sodding things!) but i just cant say to myself "this prologue does this." the way that i would say "this light switch turns that light bulb on." if you understand my analogy.

thanks a lot. :)

-sc00t


Carolyn Jewel has this to say on her website (http://www.carolynjewel.com/craft/prologue.shtml) (http://www.carolynjewel.com/craft/prologue.shtml)):

"Prologues are, by their very nature, backstory. It's stuff that happened before your story actually starts."

Now, when you say "When approaching a novel the first thing you write, presumably, is the prologue," that's not necessarily true. My current WIP doesn't have one, and neither does another WIP that is currently shelved.

You'll get people going back and forth about whether prologues are any good, but I'm not going to debate that because it's not a big deal to me. Suffice to say that if you feel your story would benefit from having one, then go for it.

Hope that helps.

~Nancy
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That helps substansially. Thank you very much. "A prologue is a backstory, outlining what happened before the current event that the novel intends to focous on." I guess would be a fair description.

Are there any specific credentials to a prologue? Must they include the protagonist? Must they be under two pages? Must they do this, or exclude that? (I do understand that nothing must do anything in literature, that rules are there to be broken, and break them indeed we do... but conventionally speaking...)

-sc00t
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I've often seen prologues in published fiction that do not include the protagonist (and frequently do not include any characters who are living at the time of the story) and run for considerably longer than two pages. The only rule is that what happens must somehow be important to the main story.

I left out the prologue from my current WIP. I want to keep most of my backstory secret - or remembered incorrectly - until it surprises the readers.
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Here are a couple of past discussions on the subject of prologues and epilogues.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/...ight=prologues (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30852&highlight=prologues)

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/...ight=prologues (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30791&highlight=prologues)

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/...ight=prologues (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17402&highlight=prologues)

In my second novel, I started with a prologue, but realized it could simply be a chapter later in the novel.

In another novel, my first chapter could have been labeled a prologue, although it's really more of a flash-forward. It builds up to something. In the next chapter, we go back twenty-odd months to where the story begins.

People have strong feelings on using or not using a prologue. If you can't explain to yourself how to write it, perhaps you don't need it?
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It was more a curious thought when reading a novel. Just wondered "Why?" and figured it would make a good topic here.
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Since you also mentioned epilogue in your original post and no one has mentioned it, it should be what happened after the story concluded. Puma
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My novel is primarily 1st person, but has a prolog written from the POV of another character, who is psychotic. It's a distinct counterpoint to the voice of the protagonist, and it works pretty well for me-- but dayum, was it draining to write.
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jules
07-04-2006, 05:52 PM
I think the main thing that distinguishes a prologue from the main body of a novel is that the prologue stands out as different in some way. Examples I've seen include:

* Prologue is in the form of facts that the main character knows
* Prologue is a prophecy or quote from a book (that exists in the fictional universe) rather than a dramatised event
* Prologue is written from a different POV to the rest of the story (I've used this one)
* Prologue occurs at a different time to the rest of the story and may involve totally different characters (quite common; see, e.g., Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay)

Now, beginner writers are frequently discouraged from writing prologues, and this seems mainly to be because of the first two categories... for some reason, many beginners are attracted to these types of prologue, and they are both very hard to do well.

As for epilogues, they too must stand out as different... merely occuring after the main story has finished is not really enough to make something an epilogue, IMO. Perhaps if it is a long time after, it might. In my story with the different-POV prologue, I go back to the same POV for an epilogue (which exists mainly to set the stage for the next novel in the series), and this is a pleasing, symmetric arrangement.