tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34330113.post3334266976604362667..comments2023-07-06T11:50:15.086+01:00Comments on Just Keep Writing and Other Thoughts...: A Tale of Two Prologues - THE CORNISH HOUSE and AUGUST ROCKAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02744937536946299450noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34330113.post-47261730222239322982012-01-20T08:37:57.477+00:002012-01-20T08:37:57.477+00:00This is so interesting and you and Judy have got m...This is so interesting and you and Judy have got me thinking now. Could I turn my prologue into chapter 1? 'A year later' might be neater. There's a cosiness to it, a narrative pull that might keep me reading if I were coming to it fresh & hadn't written it and read it 5 thousand million times...Stephanie Ziahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07009923261529219522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34330113.post-74830029247635660452012-01-17T11:28:47.429+00:002012-01-17T11:28:47.429+00:00Thanks Liz. So if the reader skipped then they wou...Thanks Liz. So if the reader skipped then they would miss out...warning to readers - don't skip prologues :-)<br /><br />lxAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02744937536946299450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34330113.post-36249340756096806772012-01-17T10:50:57.607+00:002012-01-17T10:50:57.607+00:00In my first mainstream novel, Child on a Swing, yo...In my first mainstream novel, Child on a Swing, you would question something done by a major character, which might not have rung true had there not been what was almost an explanation in the prologue. The reader wouldn't have seen the prologue as that, however, at the outset.<br /><br />For my second mainstream, it introduced a dramatic purpose to the telling of the stories of four girls, and possibly a hook for what was going to follow. It stopped the first chapter (I hope!!!) from feeling mundane and run-of-the-mill.<br /><br />In the third novel, The Road Back, it again framed the stories of Patricia and Kalden that were about to be told in the first part of the novel. The second part of the novel returns to the time of the prologue and continues the story.<br /><br />I don't see how any of those three prologues could have been removed without my losing a dimension to the novels. In their way, they were a material part of the book that they introduced.<br /><br />What a long answer to your question!<br /><br />Liz XLiz Harrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34330113.post-30987466041912955252012-01-17T09:10:56.046+00:002012-01-17T09:10:56.046+00:00Liz - i agree with you. Just out of curiosity base...Liz - i agree with you. Just out of curiosity bases on the the comments above...what impact will it have on the story if the reader skips the prologues?<br /><br />lxAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02744937536946299450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34330113.post-24779293245442629952012-01-17T09:08:22.985+00:002012-01-17T09:08:22.985+00:00Well in that case you'll be well ahead of the ...Well in that case you'll be well ahead of the game when it comes to editing...as it always does :-)<br />lxAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02744937536946299450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34330113.post-62625573750172856632012-01-17T09:05:26.369+00:002012-01-17T09:05:26.369+00:00I like prologues, both as a reader and a writer, P...I like prologues, both as a reader and a writer, PROVIDED that there is some point to the prologue. I don't mean that it should contain a little hook to encourage the reader to read on - the first chapter should be good enough to do that alone - I mean that it is in some way substantial to the story, and enhances the story and the reader's experience.<br /><br />I have opened three novels with a prologue - two are part of a framing device and the content of the prologue is material to the way in which the story is told. In the third, it explains something that the reader will later learn about and might have wondered about: it provides an answer to a question that hasn't yet been asked, without giving away the plot.<br /><br />I don't think that the content of any of my prologues could have been omitted, or could it have been dripped in throughout the narrative, which I think justifies them.<br /><br />It depends, therefore, upon why the prologue is there. When there is a valid purpose for it, I think it enhances the reading experience.<br /><br />Liz XLiz Harrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34330113.post-17420055134090649292012-01-16T20:36:27.169+00:002012-01-16T20:36:27.169+00:00I'm at the writing-scenes-that-are-fun-and-put...I'm at the writing-scenes-that-are-fun-and-putting-them-together stage. It all feels a bit ad hoc - I'm having great fun, but goodness knows what the final shape this will be. So it's probably first draft, though some of these scenes have been subject to some Serious Thinking!JOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03127111575563904349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34330113.post-44772842031298746232012-01-16T13:07:26.997+00:002012-01-16T13:07:26.997+00:00Julie and Judy...I'm definitely beginning to l...Julie and Judy...I'm definitely beginning to lean into the anti camp...at the moment my mind is blank on books where i felt it was hugely successful. But I am beginning to see the prologue might just be a part of my writing process - a way for me to focus on some aspect of the story...time will tell but these two prologues exist no more...<br /><br />Jo - interesting that they called it chapter one and maybe it is. All my prologues have been very short - a page or a page and a half...Where are you in the writing process? First draft or rewrites?<br /><br />lxAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02744937536946299450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34330113.post-76022733588832797402012-01-16T11:11:05.784+00:002012-01-16T11:11:05.784+00:00As a reader - I don't like them. I agree with ...As a reader - I don't like them. I agree with Judy - I'd rather see the information woven into the narrative.<br /><br />Having said that, I've just written one and took it to my writing group. It's not a prologue, they said. It's chapter one. But I wanted this information up front ... so now I've no idea. I'll watch this discussion with interest.JOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03127111575563904349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34330113.post-40141464962507864472012-01-16T10:20:32.126+00:002012-01-16T10:20:32.126+00:00I think having a prologue can be rather like expla...I think having a prologue can be rather like explaining a joke before you tell it. Also, readers often skip prologues as they come outside the body of the book, both materially and sort-of emotionally. My feeling is that it's best to weave the essential information seamlessly into the narrative or just leave it as it is and call it Chapter One. If there's a big time/location change, simply say so at the beginning of chapter 2.Judy Astleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34330113.post-74462322560371446642012-01-16T10:06:20.727+00:002012-01-16T10:06:20.727+00:00Well done. It's hard but sometimes (ahem...alm...Well done. It's hard but sometimes (ahem...almost ALWAYS) you have to sacrifice for the good of your book.<br /><br />Love, <br />The Prologue Nazi ;-)Julie Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15548233186449498920noreply@blogger.com