So my prologue is an event from the middle of the book. I'm getting to the point where I am almost upon the event but I am unsure how to deal with it. Do I introduce it so reader's know it refers to the prologue but "skip" it? Do I just put the prologue in as a chapter? Do I shorten the prologue (currently 4 pages) and then expand on it in the actual chapter? Do I do something else? How do you deal with a prologue when it is an event in the book?
I like the idea. I have something similar in my novel, but the beginning and ending are the same scene from different POV. I suggest you just write it as it happens from the particular POV you choose, which will ideally be a different POV than the original scene in the prologue. Let the reader make the connection. I can’t remember any examples in books, but in film and TV you sometimes see scenes repeated later from a different POV. It’s generally very powerful when done right. -MC
I think its doable. You see it done in television shows and movies where the event happens and the next scene it rewinds to the event that happened a week ago or maybe as soon as 24hrs before or something like that. I feel like the prologue should be short and used as an introduction of what the reader will expect. I struggle writing that 1st chapter and use a prologue as a hook, but my prologues usually touch on what has happened in the protagonists past that'll play a role in the story going forward. That way I don't have to spend to much time on it later in the story. It makes no sense to me to repeat the same scene word for word again. I don't think you want a whole spoilers alert happening right in the beginning. It doesn't hurt to write out the story in full before you decide on what to do with the prologue, because eventually you will need to go back and revise later. In most cases, (in my experience) the prologue (and the 1st chapter) will be hit the hardest in the revision process either having to be rewritten completely or thrown out all together. Good luck. Happy Writing!
It sounds like you might be talking about a preface rather than a prologue. I don't know for a fact, but isn't a prologue supposed to be something that happened before the story starts? A preface, as I understand it, is the most exciting part of the story, usually just a paragraph or so, placed in front of the story as a hook. And then you just also have it in the story in its proper place, exactly as it was worded in the preface. EDIT—Looks like I got it wrong: What’s the Difference? Preface, Prologue, Introduction, and Foreword Here's why I thought it would be called a preface, because that's what it's called in this article: Bringing the Dead to Life—Notes on Twilight by Bill Johnson I think of Bill Johnson as a guy who knows his stuff, but who knows, he may have it wrong? Or maybe it's a specialized type of preface?
