1. Shimario

    Shimario Member

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    Is having a chapter 0 a good idea?

    Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Shimario, Jan 13, 2017.

    All thoughts are welcomed.

    So like the title says, is having a chapter 0 a good idea? Like, its not a prologue but its a chapter that explains what happened before chapter 1. I could see it being useless, but what if its important to the story, like to explain what happened before chapter one and to possibly even start the book of with some action?
     
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  2. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Why wouldn't you just call it Chapter 1 and renumber the others?
     
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  3. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    it's like the way floors are numbered in Europe vs. the US... their first floor is our second... still the same distance from the pavement...
     
  4. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    "explain what happened before chapter one" sounds like backstory. Backstory is usually a bad idea. When backstory facts are important to the story, they should usually be introduced bit by bit as the story goes along. If there's a huge glob of backstory, then the beginning of the story should probably back up so that the backstory becomes story.

    I also don't see how this differs from a prologue or Chapter 1.
     
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  5. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    Just write the story - number the chapters when you are done (and there's no real difference between numbering it prologue, chpt 0 or chpt 1 - the first chapter is the first chapter what you call it is irrelevant)
     
  6. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Yeah. The fact that there's an urge to call it Chapter 0 tells me it might need to be cut. Can't say without seeing it.
     
  7. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    yeah but if you cut it chapter 1 will then be chapter 0 :D
     
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  8. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Holy shit! That is what I have tried to call a Prologue, chapter 0. Pretty cool. :)
     
  9. Sack-a-Doo!

    Sack-a-Doo! Contributor Contributor

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    Those with a technical bent see '0' as the first ordinal number, so if it's science fiction, I'd say this makes sense... not as a way to explain things, but just the most logical way to number chapters.

    A prologue would be Chapter -1. :)
     
  10. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    You can always run your chapter numbers backwards too. I think Stephen King did that with The Running Man. It was set up like a countdown. I messed around with that in a book once. It looked stupid and affected when I did it.
     
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  11. Sack-a-Doo!

    Sack-a-Doo! Contributor Contributor

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    For my next novel, I'm considering numbering the chapters by day number since a certain event far in the past (6,000 years in the past) as a way of counting up to day #2,000,000 since that event.
     
  12. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    That could work. Dates make great chapter headers. I've always liked books were there are no chapter numbers too. Just the chapter title or whatever.
     
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  13. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    Jeffery Deaver did binary chapter numbers in 'the blue nowhere' which was about computer hackers, while many military books use D minus whatever down to D day and then T plus whatever once the operation has started. (richard herman is one example)

    The bottom line on that sort of thing is its fine if its relevant to the book - it only comes off as stupid and affected if the reader doesn't make the connection
     
  14. Rozman

    Rozman Member

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    In my opinion, start with 1 or go without numbers.
     
  15. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Personally I don't see the point. Why can't you call it chapter 1?
     
  16. Dnaiel

    Dnaiel Senior Member

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    I don't see anything wrong with it myself. A publisher might. I dunno. But what you're really doing is illusory. Chapter 0 becomes the heading for the first chapter, which is chapter 1. Which means Chapter 12 is the thirteenth chapter, and thus is chapter 13. But everyone will still call them chapter 0, chapter 12 anyway.

    Star Wars: Rogue One could be called Episode III 1/2. A fan created a crawl for it and titled it "Anthology". Maybe something like that would work? But it's your call, your responsibility.

    A lot of books start the way you describe. Movies, too. Which is fine as long as it's useful and not boring, not an information dump, etc. Just make it work and make it good.
     
  17. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    If it was some sort of SF or military fiction, something dystopian, I think a "Chapter 0" could be pretty cool. In any other genre though, it would just hurt.
     
  18. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    Chapter numbers/titles/whatevers don't register with me - my eyes skip straight over them - so I wouldn't even notice.

    But I don't see the point. If it comes before chapter 1 then chapter 1 is chapter 2 and this is chapter 1...
     
  19. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    I think of it like the Pol Pot thing, when he reset the national calendar to start with a year zero. That's why SF seemed to fit for me.
     
  20. 20oz

    20oz Active Member

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    "To explain Chapter 1"? Do you mean explain the story we're about to read or a continuation of Chapter 0? Why not just write a Prologue or Introduction, or start from Chapter 1?

    Without much context though, how am I supposed to know if Chapter 0 is a good idea? Do you need it for time travel purposes? Is it the end of one adventure while another begins, and if so, why isn't it Chapter 22 or something like that?

    Auuugghhh!
     
  21. newjerseyrunner

    newjerseyrunner Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2022

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    Makes me think you are a programmer. Why people always start a 1 is beyond me, 0 is the first integer. It depends on what you think Chapter numbers are. Are they ordinals or a position index?

    If you have a list of things: Apple, Orange, Banana.
    The 1st object is in the 0 position.

    Why not just give them number? Just call it a new chapter, you're obviously not naming your chapters or using them in any way other than to break up action. Am I correct? Numbering doesn't matter to the story, the only one who might care is the editor / publisher.
     
  22. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    Ever read a book that starts with Chapter 0? I haven't.
     
  23. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    Chapter Zero, the introductory chapter to the latest edition of the preeminent cost accounting textbook on German Standard Costing, Flexible Plankostenrechnung und Deckungsbeitragsrechnung

    From Management Accounting Quarterly 2004 overview by ANTON VAN DER MERWE
     
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