Prologue or no prologue?

Iforgotthis said:

You see, this is exactly where my issue crops up. What I've put in the first chapter/prologue is a scene, where the reader isn't told information they are shown it in application. But still, I'm worried that the prejudice against prologues will entice people to skip it even though it is actually an important scene. I don't want to have to find ways to explain the mc's predicament twice as that will be repetitive if the reader chose to read the prologue.

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I'd solicit feedback from your betas on this too. Let them read the story the way you think it needs to be told and see how they feel.

And be aware that whether or not a prologue should simply be chapter 1 may not be a deal breaker for an agent or editor someday. This is the sort of thing that they can easily ask you to change if they think it would work better another way.

This is an interesting topic. I actually began reading three different novels yesterday, two without a prologue and one that did have one. The funny thing is, I didn't realize I was reading a prologue till it was over. (I know, that's terrible.) I was mostly thinking how mechanical the writing was, and that it was really 'telling' instead of 'showing' and it ended with: and that would be the last thing she remembered for a very long time. Cheesy, lol. By the end of the (12) pages, I saw that the next chapter said Chapter One. I was like, huh? Then I flipped back to the first page and saw it was a prologue, lol.

In this case, the prologue was the back story of one of the characters that the MC, who was finally introduced in chapter one, would meet later on in the story. A few pages into the true first chapter, I noticed right away that the writing/voice was dramatically different--but unfortunately, not too much better--and I was kind of annoyed that the prologue wasn't even about the MC at all.

With that said, I usually don't discriminate on prologues. I generally feel that if the writer wrote it, it must have something pertinent to do with the rest of the story. But, a lot of times--like in this recent case--I feel like it wasn't necessary. It almost made me quit reading the book altogether. That's not to say that I haven't read some good ones, though. I've read ones that were beautifully written, that I found intriguing--and most importantly, to me, the writing was consistent with the rest of the novel.

So, like everyone else says: do it if you're certain it's needed. But like Bufty mentioned, I'm sure there are plenty of ways to make a time gap acceptable from one chapter to another chapter. Overall, you're the writer. Only you would know what works best for your particular story. Good luck!

Prologue/No Prologue is a personal preference thing, like replying to an email at the top or bottom (those arguments get quite impassioned, actually). My personal feeling is that the prologue makes sense if it's about something or from a POV that wouldn't fit in the rest of the book. For instance, if your whole book is about following around a group of people, but you need to introduce some setup that happens a continent away or a hundred years ago, that makes sense in a prologue.

A good example is 1632. The prologue explains why the town of Grantville ends up in the middle of Europe in the year 1632. No way you're going to fit that explanation into the rest of the book, which is very much limited 3rd, focused primarily on the inhabitants of the town. IMO, it makes sense as a prologue.

I've read somewhere a couple of weeks or so ago that when a literary agent or a publisher finds a prologue to a manuscript they do not read on. Apparently, they think that the writer should have worked the info of the prologue into the manuscript. In other words the writer is lazy. My personal feeling is that if you think that a prologue is necessary then write it.

shadowwalker said:

And this is the whole thing. Bad writing, whether it's a prologue or a chapter, is still bad writing. Good writing, whether it's a prologue or a chapter, is still good writing.

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I wish it were that simple.

A paragraph, or page, or a whole chapter can be very well written, worthy of masterpiece status. But if it doesn't serve the best needs of the story, it's bad.

I had to delete a whole subplot from my WIP because it didn't serve the story the way I needed it. My beta testers were ANGRY to lose the character that made that subplot happen. They loved her.

But it does not follow that she was good for the story.

Unhappy said:

I've read somewhere a couple of weeks or so ago that when a literary agent or a publisher finds a prologue to a manuscript they do not read on. Apparently, they think that the writer should have worked the info of the prologue into the manuscript. In other words the writer is lazy. My personal feeling is that if you think that a prologue is necessary then write it.

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Some don't.

If the prologues matters enough for you, you'll have to decide which matters more. The agent/publisher/editor, or the prologue.

robjvargas said:

I wish it were that simple.

A paragraph, or page, or a whole chapter can be very well written, worthy of masterpiece status. But if it doesn't serve the best needs of the story, it's bad.

I had to delete a whole subplot from my WIP because it didn't serve the story the way I needed it. My beta testers were ANGRY to lose the character that made that subplot happen. They loved her.

But it does not follow that she was good for the story.

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But good writing does serve the story, or it's not really good writing - in this context.

mccardey said:

But good writing does serve the story, or it's not really good writing - in this context.

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I've enjoyed reading prologues even when I didn't think they were necessary. To me, that's still good writing. It's just in the wrong place.

My answer is basically the same. Does it serve the story? Does it interrupt the story, get in the way?

If it serves the story where you want to have that flashback, then I would put it there. If it gets in the way, then I'd look for another way to get it in.

neicolec said:

I find the instant rejection of prologues annoying. I have one. But I renamed it Chapter 1 because of the stigma attached to them.

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And if I were reading it, I'd probably find myself muttering, "Chapter 1 feels like a prologue."

neicolec said:

I find the instant rejection of prologues annoying. I have one. But I renamed it Chapter 1 because of the stigma attached to them.

The incident that I cover really IS the start of the story.

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Then you are right to call it Chapter One. Why would you want to call it a Prologue?

caw

Agreed with some of the above. If you're worried about it being skipped, don't call it a prologue.

The typical advice is that back stories don't belong at the beginning of a novel, that they should be revealed late into the book or not at all--just used for your own purposes. There are exceptions to this, particularly if the back story is itself a gripping read. The real rule is to not bore your readers..

M. D. Ireman said:

Agreed with some of the above. If you're worried about it being skipped, don't call it a prologue.

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So, lie to your readers to catch those few who might skip it? I would say if you're worried about it being skipped - stop worrying. They still bought the book.