Prologue or Chapter?

I can't decide which to start off with!

This is because basically my story has three parts at the start that the reader needs to know about before the actual story can continue. The three parts are like three major parts in my characters past, and I was going to head it up with a date and time, going in chronological order. But I don't know whether to put these three parts in a prologue to the story, or whether to devote a chapter to each. They can and most likely will get pretty lengthy, so I'm a bit lost as to how to spread them out... :/?

Any suggestions??

Muchly appreciated, thanks!

Nez~

 

Maybe summarize in a prologue, and then do the chapters? That's what I would do.....

 

Oh, that could work perfectly... !!

Thanks Gigi_GNR! Will definitely try that.

 

You're welcome! Glad I could help.

 

Why? Why can't the reader start out in the dark about the past? Infuse the necessary details into the story as it proceeds. Keep the reader off balance and curious.

Don't infodump!

 

I agree with Cogito. When I read a book, I feel much more drawn to the story if I know only minimal information. Hearing all the information at once, especially in a novel, is tedious and is a sign of inexperience in the author.

For example, after being pressured extensively by friends, I finally read The Hunger Games (a very popular book, by the way). I found the writing style annoying largely because whenever a topic comes up, the speaker immediately tells you all about it, every piece of information she knows, giving you the history of events and all her personal opinions. A lot of the information isn't even relevant. For me, that took away from a lot of parts of the book, making me enjoy them less.

If you have a prologue, use it as more for foreshadowing, giving the reader the flavor of the story without much actual information. It should be in context, not a summary. Otherwise, just avoid it; if the reader can't piece together the actual action of the story without reading the prologue, you're doing something wrong.

 

But what I'm telling isn't exactly giving anything away (I'll try not to make it to at least!). It's more like instances where something peculiar happened and will (hopefully) leave the reader wanting to find out more, and thus the tale begins of how this teenage girl finds out what has really been going on...