Prologues

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Be prepared for a fight. Last time the Prologuers started throwing bricks at the Anti-Prologulists, and the riot police were called in.

cscarlet said:

I don't like my first chapter, and the majority of my book is actually NOT about the character that I mention in my first chapter (my antagonist). My protagonist is introduced in Chapter 2.

I just can't seem to "cut it out" though, because some of the background knowledge is necessary for things which happen later in the book.

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I would question if the reason you can't cut it is because it's a "darling." Can the background information be provided elsewhere? Have you just gotten too close and possibly can't see other solutions? You know, an inability to see the forest for the trees.

I'm assuming (correct me if I'm wrong) that since prologues are useful for "setting up" the story and giving background information, that this might be a good fit then.

But someone told me that prologues and prefaces are supposed to be bigger "Attention grabbers" than the actual first chapter of the book (is this true?).

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Well, know, I can't say that they have to grab the reader's attention more than the first chapter. I can't say that they're not supposed hook the reader, either. They are supposed to be the first thing a reader reads (and I do read prologues), so what they do need to do is 1) relate to the story, 2) add to the story, and 3) make the reader want to read the next page, just like every other part of the story should.

Someone (else) also told me that you can't use any narration or omniscient writing in a prologue at all. Is this true too?

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Has anyone tried to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge recently? If so, don't buy that either.

Finally (last but not least), how long (word count) is a Prologue supposed to be?

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Yes.

Any other tips for writing a good Prologue?

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The same tips as writing a good novel, a good chapter, a good scene, a good paragraph, and a good sentence.

scarletpeaches said:

Be prepared for a fight. Last time the Prologuers started throwing bricks at the Anti-Prologulists, and the riot police were called in.

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I've got the riot gear on.

Why not just Chapter 1 instead of prologue?

Salis said:

Why not just Chapter 1 instead of prologue?

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I think that's how cscarlet has it at the moment, and asking if it would be better as a prologue.

oh boy...just what I needed! We haven't had a good prologue discussion in like oh 2 or 3 minutes...

ORION said:

oh boy...just what I needed! We haven't had a good prologue discussion in like oh 2 or 3 minutes...

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This is the prologue to the prologue thread.

And I'm still in riot gear.

Prologues suck except when they don't suck.

I think that accurately sums up the 4,286 prologue threads in this place.

Now, go write your book the way you want to write it, and throw it out to the ravenous dogs of agenting and publishing.

caw

Well, I haven't participated in any of the other prologue threads, so...

I wonder how many people sell their first book with a prologue in it?

A lot of people don't even read prologues, so if you include too much neccessary information in it a chunk of your readers might be lost later on. Of course, you could argue that that's their fault and not yours...

Karen Junker said:

Well, I haven't participated in any of the other prologue threads, so...

I wonder how many people sell their first book with a prologue in it?

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I did.

Beth

Whatsa prologue?

hehehehe....

Personally, I'm a big fan of prologues.

In point of fact, my most recent novel "Lets talk Cocaine"

I establish my MC in the prologue and give a good bit of back story that explains how he found cocaine and came to love it.

To be completely honest with you, The prologue consists of about 275 pages of exposition into the character. There is only one chapter in the book, and its entirety reads "He realized he'd injected too much this time. He sat back and closed his eyes. Why had he thought to inject it directly into his scrotum? The pain subsided, and his soul released. Pippy had died. The end"

Karen Junker said:

I wonder how many people sell their first book with a prologue in it?

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I did too. My YA novel, just sold to Random House/Delacorte, has a prologue. It's a flashback scene describing a catalystic childhood event in which two of the biggest events in my MC's life came togther, steering the course for the next eight years. I never had a single beta, agent or editor question it -- but it fits the criteria for a worthwhile prologue (attention-grabber, could never stand as Ch 1, works much better served up front, as opposed to plugging it in here & there, or as in-narrative flashback).

It's all in the way you write it.
My guess is that if the character is not all that interesting, perhaps that material might be better worked in elsewhere in the book. I ditched my entire first chapter and worked in about 30 percent of it later in the novel. After I did that, I realized the rest was less necessary than I had once thought.

P.S. Please forgive some of these folks who like to give newbees a hard time. A simple reference to an old thread would have sufficed, but we're writers and writers tend to be cynical people who like to toy with others.
Hee, hee.

I usually write one or two prologues for the "real" prologue. Then there's the prologue for the acknowledgments page, which is actually a prologue for the dedication.

Altogether, I think a good book should have at least 6-10 prologues. Nothing wrong with that is there? As long as they're written well.

The reason I'm not a fan of prologues is because I haven't read many good ones. And as a writer, I'd rather not take the risk that many of my readers have come to that same conclusion. But there are certainly times when they can help your (back)story a lot.