prologues

Quick Link: What Is a Prologue — and How to Write One Readers Won’t Skip

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

Do you prologue? I absolutely love a well-written prologue, to me, it is almost like getting bonus information and sets the tone for the rest of the story. Reedsy has a great post on if you should prologue and how to write a great one. Check it out!

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What Is a Prologue — and How to Write One Readers Won’t Skip

A prologue comes before Chapter One and acts an introduction to a story, or a first of “two beginnings.” While there is back and forth on the necessity of prologues as a literary device (more on that later), it is agreed upon that a good prologue contains information that is vital to the rest of the story — though often not in a way that’s immediately apparent. A prologue should only be relied upon when it contains information that would hinder the narrative if present in the body of the novel. Think of a prologue a bit like an appetizer: if done right, it can perfectly prepare you for the main course. If done carelessly, it can ruin your appetite for the novel.

Before we talk about the best way to write a prologue, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page about what a prologue is — and isn’t.

Read the full post on Reedsy!

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The Seven Deadly Sins of Prologues

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This post by Kristen Lamb originally appeared on her blog on 7/14/14.

To prologue or not to prologue? That is the question. The problem with the prologue is it has kind of gotten a bad rap over the years, especially with agents. They generally hate them. Why? In my opinion, it is because far too many writers don’t use prologues properly and that, in itself, has created its own problem.

Because of the steady misuse of prologues, most readers skip them. Thus, the question of whether or not the prologue is even considered the beginning of your novel can become a gray area if the reader just thumbs pages until she sees Chapter One.

So without further ado…

 

The 7 Deadly Sins of Prologues

Sin #1 If your prologue is really just a vehicle for massive information dump…

This is one of the reasons I recommend writing detailed backgrounds of all main characters before we begin (especially when we are new writers). Get all of that precious backstory out of your system.

This is a useful tactic in that first, it can help us see if a) our characters are psychologically consistent, b) can provide us with a feel for the characters’ psychological motivations, which will help later in plotting.

I have a little formula: background–> motivations –>goals–>a plan–>a detailed plan, which = plot and c) can help us as writers honestly see what details are salient to the plot.

This helps us better fold the key details into the plotting process so that this vital information can be blended expertly into the story real-time.

Many new writers bungle the prologue because they lack a system that allows them to discern key details or keep track of key background details. This makes for clumsy writing, namely a giant “fish head” labeled prologue. What do we do with fish heads? We cut them off and throw them away…unless you are my mother’s Scandinavian family and then they make soup *shivers*.

 

Sin #2 If your prologue really has nothing to do with the main story.

 

Click here to read the full post on Kristen Lamb’s blog.