Writing a prologue?

Question

I want to write a prologue in the eyes of another person explaining some things that happened before the story occured, but I also want to have something in the beginning that is part of the novel, but doesn't follow the main character (there would be no other chapters focused on this one person.) I was wondering if it would be alright if I started with both of these together, but the first person is narrating half the prologue, and then having "***" divide the two and lead into the second half of the story (they go together.) Personally, I feel this may be a little too much to start off with. Does anyone have any tips that may help me start with this? I've been wanting to dtart writing for a long time, but this is the hardest part for me. I don't know how too. I wrote about twelve pages before scraping them before they were not strong enough. I want to do it right this time!

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks! :)

Answer 1

I disagree that prologues are almost always necessary. I see them in a very different light and I find them very necessary in some books and not at all in others. In my four, I have gone 50/50 - two with and two without.

The way you describe it sounds a bit confusing, but you should try working it out on paper. One way to make something you write stronger is the same way you would make a broth or drink stronger - condense it. Take your 12 pages and start reducing them. Take out everything that is superficial and put them aside. Put those parts into a separate file so you can use them later if you want to. Keep condensing until you are down to bare minimum. Just enough to say what you need to and nothing more.

Remember you have a LONG book ahead of you after the prologue. You don't have to use it to tell everything. I found that I made my file with the stuff I cut out and then later on I went into that file and added them at other parts of the book. The prologue should just be a taste. Think of it as what the French call an appetizer - amuse-bouche - an amusement or teaser for the mouth. Think of your epilogue as an amuse-cerveau an amusement for the brain. Just enough to wake your reader's brain up and tease them with a taste of things to come. Pax-C

Answer 2

When I redid The Starchild for the 4th time, I rewrote the prologue to that book by having both a fight scene and an escape scene--separated by a " *** " break.

What you want to do is have it so that each section in the prologue will have an impact on the storyline.

In the above example for instance, what happened in the beginning of the book, had the character reflect on what happened to her years later, and how she regretted not being able to do more to help her current situation.

It takes time to iron out a good prologue. You just have to remember: Keep focused on what is *important* to the story. If you want to use something as a 'jump off' point--to draw in the reader--then use it.

Experiment with a few ideas, try out some promising leads associated with your book--and see if that does anything for your story.

Don't worry if it's right or perfect. It took me 13 years to write The Starchild. None of the 14 partial prototype novels I had excised in the past worked.

So it took me some time to get it down pat.

Answer 3

Prologues are almost always unnecessary. Jump into the middle of the story and this will increase the suspense of the story as the readers piece together what is happening. For example, Star Wars started without explaining everything that happened in the first three episodes (which George Lucas had already written as backstory). Layer the information you think the reader needs throughout the story instead. The reader doesn't really need to know this in a prologue. And anyhow, any editor will cut it.

Answer 4

Prologues are often used to establish some backstory to a plot (e.g. if the plot is about a murder, the prologue might show the murderer as a young child). Sometimes they're used to ask a question relating to a main theme in the story. (E.g. if the story is about kittens, the prologue might have a short story or poem about kittens).

Usually a prologue is told from some point of view other than the main character's (MC's). This allows it to be separate from the part of the story that introduces the MC. If your Prologue is written from the MC point of view, then its main job will be to introduce the MC - which is okay too. A Prologue is a good way to introduce the MC backstory.

It's okay if your Prologue is written from more than one viewpoint, but if you do that then readers will expect the same to occur in your story. So only use multiple viewpoints in your Prologue if the rest of your story does the same.

Good luck!

Answer 5

I was once told by my literature professor in college that when you get an idea, put the pen to paper and go with it. There is always time to rearrange, add to or subtract during the editing process. At first I will admit, it sounded strange to start somewhere other than the beginning. I tried his approach and it worked for me. I have talked with others that found this approach didn't work for them. I guess what I'm rambling on about is go with what feels right. I see nothing wrong with the old faithful **** division route, it worked very well for me in my book(which is published). If it doesn't feel strong enough next time, read it again and figure out what feels weak and work on that part.

Answer 6

Maybe you can start with the prologue and then head up a section that would include the name of the incident for instance:
"The last rebellion"
and then continue the story. Just a suggestion.

Answer 7

If you're having trouble with the beginning, why don't you start writing the next chapter. You can decide how your ideas for the 1st part will develop in the next chapter and that should help you with the beginning.