I am writing a first-person short story, but for the prologue the main character isn't present. Do I just make a third-person prologue? Is changing the point of veiw unorthodox or is it a common occurrence? Any scrap of advice is helpful, thanks.
I wrote a novel in which I did exactly the opposite: the first chapter (I didn't make it a prologue, although I had originally written it as such) is in first person and the rest of the book is in third person. I've seen other examples over time in which the author switched between first and third person (James Michener did it in "The Novel"). The important thing to remember is that when you do switch, make sure that it serves a valid purpose. When I did it, it was because I wanted to introduce one of the major characters who had treated a number of people quite badly in his younger days. He admits this, but also minimizes it in the telling. The rest of the book takes the reader back to the 1950s and then works its way forward to present day, and in the course of it the reader sees him as he really was and (hopefully) understands the depth of his remorse for the past. I wound up being very pleased with how it came out. Hope this helps.
