Sitting comfortably in my chamber of torture (that is, Revision Hell. And I'm in the fourth circle where I'm revising my revisions. Again.) I recently thought long and hard about using a prologue.
It would save me a lot of trouble, putting valuable backstory in. And then I read several articles about how to write one well:
Where to Begin? When, Where, and How to Write a Prologue
The Prologue — When to Use One, How to Write One
Tips for Novel Writing: Prologues
And then, I decided not to. I am going to dissect my would-be prologue and sprinkle it into my story instead. Having come close to doing a prologue, I have sympathy for those who wish to write them. I've also read some prologues that I really disliked (like an almost word-for-word excerpt from a later part of the book--see the first link above. It's a no-no, according to the author.)
So, just wondering. Love 'em or hate 'em?
17 comments:
Sorry to hear you're in revision hell. I'm trying not to step into my next round of edits yet, but I'll join you soon. ;o)
For me, I guess prologues depend on the author and the story. The ones I can think of at the moment all seemed to work. They all gave some pre-information crucial to the story without ending up doing an info-dump. My WIP had a prologue, but like you, I went back and sprinkled the info in it throughout the story. It worked better than way.
I like them. The stories I've read with prologues work well. I don't think they're a right fit for every book, but I do like them. I just picked up a Shannon Hale novel and her prologue sucked me right in!
Depends on whether they have a function or not--besides backstory infodumping. O:) I always read the prologues, and generally enjoy them. :D
Congratulations on writing a "Query that Works"! That's a really big deal - harder to do than writing a book that works, IMO.
I'm indifferent on the prologue debate. Like all writing, if it's done well, I'm in. If not, I skip it.
Love love love your query!
I generally dislike prologues because often, they seem gratuitous and don't add much to the story. I have, however, read ones that worked amazingly well. So it really depends. However, if you can sprinkle the information in the prologue throughout the story, I'd definitely do that instead -- it makes it easier when submit to agents.
My previous WiP had a would-be prologue that I made a part of my first chapter. Some still thought it'd work better as a prologue, so I can understand how you feel.
Good luck with revisions!
I've read some I liked and some I didn't think were really necessary. If you can get around it by sprinkling it into your story that's what I would do. Hang in there! You can do it!
Congrats on a great query!!!
Prologues don't bother me in the slightest. It's a shame they get a bad rap.
Your query = Awesomeness.
Just thought I'd throw it out there...
Anyway, I agree with lbdiamond. Prologues usually rock my world, but I'm a bit hesitant to write them for my WIPs. I leave the prologue writing to the pros.
And yeah, sucks that they get a bad rap. Power to the prologue, people!
I'm also not bothered by prologues. If it's in the book, I'm going to read it.
I don't mind prologues. I'm with lbd and Amparo, prologues get a bad rap.
Thanks for all the comments! I guess prologues are like many things in writing.There's good, there's bad, and there's what I'm capable of writing, which seems to be somewhere in between (on a good day).
First off, outstanding query Lydia!
Re: prologues. I agree with Danyelle, if there's a function, prologues are fine. If the prologue is an info dump because the writer is too lazy to weave in backstory, then they're not fine.
I do not like long prologues under any circumstances. Some prologues feel like a second story and I'm distracted trying to figure out how the prologue and the primary story mesh.
I'm not a big fan of prologues. I think most of the time they're not necessary. But sometimes they might work...
Oh, and thank you for the blog award! :)
I don't mind prologues--as long as they aren't info-dumps or heavy foreshadowing vehicles. I think I got a bit burnt out from them when reading too many fantasy novels.
Great topic. I'm on the fence with prologues, if they're done well I don't mind them.
And I gave you an award over on my blog. :)
I'm in the 'love them' camp. I'd like to write an article called 'Prologues: What's the Problem?' I don't get what the big issue is!
I'm glad you're going to sprinkle the info in. Sometimes I feel like prologues are a big old info dump. But then again, they can be done really well too! Good luck either way!
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