I'm revising my WIP. In the rough draft, I started with the characters going on an adventure. Most of what happens in the first chapter of the book is in response to a murder, but there is no who-done-it. It's not a mystery. I feel like the story would benefit a lot from a 2-3 page prologue. I could start it with action, explain the most important aspect of the magic system, provide context for the culture so that the reasons for the murder are understood, and create sympathy for the killers all in one go with very little telling and no info dumping. I'm hesitant to call it "chapter 1" because the killer is only in one other scene in the whole novel, and it is so short. What do you think?
People have this aversion to prologues and honestly, I have no idea why. The common criticism I always see is "you shouldn't need one to start a story if your story is good", and my response to that has always been "why lol". If you took out the word 'prologue' and just put the prologue into Chapter 1 and ended it with a little line break, would anyone notice or care that it's technically a prologue lumped in with the first chapter? I say absolutely go for it. The only real problem with prologues is when they're nothing more than a big exposition dump, but that's a problem with the writer's use of exposition and not the fault of the prologue itself.
My feeling is that when you start a book, the reader is ready to invest in a character. It sounds like, in this case, the reader will invest in a character that they will barely ever see again. I think that you're setting yourself up for reader tension and irritation ("So where's Joe? I want Joe back. Look, you started with Joe; what happened to him?") and then serious annoyance. ("That's IT? That's all we get of Joe?")
Yeah, I can see that. I did write it -- three pages. The POV of the prologue is an old woman, and while she starts of sympathetic, by the end of it she's not. My hope is that the book title and cover art would clue the reader in that this person isn't the main character. Oh well, I'll think about it.
But the problem is--and I realize this is just me saying this--I think that a reader starts a book with a lot of expectation and energy, and they sort of imprint on what they see first. I guess I'm thinking of them as baby ducks. So even if you warn them, they're likely to get attached. Or if you successfully warn them, you will have talked them down from being interested in and excited by your book, and that's not good either.
Well what does this prologue include? I wrote a story that had a prologue where the main character and another major character had a short discussion before Chapter 1 started, and another story where a prologue played out the murder that the rest of the story revolved around. I don't think it's a major flaw to introduce a character in a prologue and then not feature them again, as long as it's done correctly. You obviously don't want the character to imprint on the reader and then suck them away for another character, so as long as characters within the prologue either translate immediately out into the story or are of little enough interest that readers don't mind them showing up only briefly, I think you're fine.
I don’t see a lot of value to it, in the abstract. Magic system, culture, etc. you can work into the narrative itself. I guess the question is how important is it the reader feel sympathy for the killers and do you really need a prologue for that?
It’s not about sympathy so much as understanding the sense of urgency the main characters feel while they are getting together.
This is similar. A woman’s sons are killed by a soldier. She takes revenge, but a demon gets loose. The demon is the problem for the characters. Chapter one, as I write it, starts with the first hero going to the second for help.
Got it. I guess my question is why that can’t be conveyed in the POV of the main character. If you’re in a close POV and the character feels urgency, the reader should feel it too. That’s said, you should follow your own vision for the story. I’m not a fan of prologues, but you should write the story you feel is best. If nothing else, you can write those two to three pages and see what you think after. If it works, great.
Yeah, thanks. The other reason I put it in was I wanted to show the monster once so it doesn’t seem so startling and odd when it happened. I want the reader to be itching for the confrontations (end of act 1) rather than just curious about it. I already wrote it. I’m just waffling on it. Might as well see what betarraders think.
So is it a bit like a cold opener, where something happens that causes this demon to get loose and then the demon is the problem and not necessarily the people involved in the summoning of said demon? Sounds like that'd be fine to me, as long as it's kept clear to readers that the characters in the opener aren't the characters the story moves onto within the first chapter.
In my view, this would be much more interesting. Getting to know the characters a little, watching their alarm, the slow reveal--far more engrossing, and in the end, more exciting.
Is there something extraneous that you think the reader must know, before they dig into the 'story proper?' If so, then a prologue is very useful and totally appropriate. It also sets the tone of the story, leaving you free to perhaps start Chapter One on a lighter note, without making your readers think the story is going to be lightweight. Do not be put off by automatic prologue-haters. They are only one segment of the reading public. Instead, study what a prologue can do for you, for your story. If it's just in there as a throat-clearing start, or as an info-dump of all the world-building you've done, then maybe give it a miss. But sometimes you want certain facts or events to be known to the reader beforehand, and that's where a Prologue shines. It's not possible to 'work these details in' later on, if it's important that your reader knows them beforehand.
Sometimes a prologue also contains the main characters in your story, but will feature them in another time (and maybe place) ...either as young children, or sometimes as old people, remembering their past—and focusing the story in a certain direction. If you know the old person has survived to that age, the story you're reading won't be about whether or not they survive. That leaves readers free to watch the events of the character's life unfold, knowing the story isn't about whether or not the character survives the trials. It will be about the nature of the trials themselves, and the jeopardy will lie elsewhere. And etc. Prologues don't always dump the characters who feature in them. That's only one kind of a prologue.
