A question about prologues

[Ignis]

I'm not sure what sort of prologue would be best for a fantasy book. As fantasy books tend to have lots of new information (for example, about the land, cities, races, creatures, oddities...), an informative, or perhaps historical prologue would be useful in shedding light book's setting and situation (e.g. in David Edding's Pawn of Prophecy).

However, I fear going into the complexities of the land and setting may cause readers to lose interest. Therefore, another option may be to have a more action filled prologue, which doesn't inform as much, but certainly keeps the reader entertained.

So my question is: Which aspect of prologues should be sacrificed, and how might a compromise between the two types be made?

Thank you,
Ignis.

P.S. Sorry if I put this post in the wrong forum.

 

[Brian G Turner]

In my opinion, a prologue is best used to raise a question or issue that will underline the focus of the book.

Of course, that doesn't mean to say there aren't other uses, but I would definitely recommend that writers consider why they are writing a prologue, and in what way it is supposed to apply to the rest of the story.

2c.

ADDED: Oh, and welcome to chronicles.

 

[Ignis]

Re: Another question

Thanks very much.

Could I please ask another question (other than this one)?

If a writer wanted to give readers large bits of information about the world in which the book is set, what techniques could be used, other than an extensive prologue?

Thanks again,
Ignis.

 

[sanityassassin]

personally i wouldn't put in too much information all at once maybe start each chapter with a little bit of info necessary for the following chapter and in the first chapter do a sort of flyover giving the basic premise of the land dropping hint of what my lie ahead in the story (ie fantastic creatures or raging wars magic etc)

 

[the_faery_queen]

i agree, you need to spread the info out, otherwise you info dump and it can be difficult/boring for the reader.

prologues, in my opinion, should only be used if neccessary. a lot of people have them, a lot of readers i know are kinda tired of them. i don't mind them as long as they're setting up/revealling something that's relevant to the plot. otherwise its a bit pointless and i rather just start the novel

 

[Brian G Turner]

Re: Another question

Thanks very much.

Could I please ask another question (other than this one)?

If a writer wanted to give readers large bits of information about the world in which the book is set, what techniques could be used, other than an extensive prologue?

Thanks again,
Ignis.

A book is usually the character experience of the world - so I should certainly recommend you only place in the details as the character experiences them.

The background story may seem important to you and your story, but for a reader, it may only be as important as the character experience.

2c.

 

[Ignis]

Ok, thanks everyone for the help.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Giving the reader a long list of information without be boring is one the hardest things to do. Especially, as you mentioned yourself, in Fantasy work. You have to explain a lot because everything is new.

The thing I always learned to do is show stuff instead of telling. For example, don't tell that is is sooo warm in the dessert, but let someone die of dehydration (agree a bit harsh example, but you get get the idea). But in this way it's stronger.

To make your information strong, you shouldn't tell it's warm in the dessert, you should tell if someone'd end up alone in the middle of the dessert, he'll surely die.

 

[Culhwch]

You have to explain a lot because everything is new.

Or not. Give the reader some credit and let them fill in the blanks from their own imaginations. Sometimes a hint or a suggestion is infinitely more powerful than a concrete 'The dragon was red' approach. Which sort of ties neatly back into the general 'show don't tell' policy...

 

[Paradox 99]

Another approach is to adopt the teacher pupil approach.
If you're good with dialogue, you can have a character that knows very little of the world in which they live and have another character explain everything through a series of answered questions.
Finding a reason for that can be hard though - maybe it's a child, someone with amnesia or a person from a distant land.

This can be tricky to pull off, but can work if you do it in snippets and keep some other action happening at the same time.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Or not. Give the reader some credit and let them fill in the blanks from their own imaginations. Sometimes a hint or a suggestion is infinitely more powerful than a concrete 'The dragon was red' approach. Which sort of ties neatly back into the general 'show don't tell' policy...

I didn't mean to tell everything, but you need to show how, say, Hobbits look like. If you don't people don't buy your story. I'm not saying you should say:

Hobbits are smaller than humans and are best known for their big appetite.

The movie shows this so well, Bilbo keeps looking for food when Gandalf drops by, and while that is happening we learn really that hobbits are smaller when Gandalf stumbles into the lamp and hits his head to the ceiling.

 

[flynx]

"In a distant galaxy, far, far away..."

is about as much prologue as I would like to read in a novel.

I've bought the book, I've read the cover blurb, I already know that it's a different world with different rules. Get to the story. Anything out of the ordinary that I need to know you can tell me at the appropriate time.

If in the prologue you tell me that G'Nchow is the land of technologically advanced dwarves and then eight chapters later merely say "They crossed the border into G'Nchow." all that you've done is missed the opportunity to surprise me. Then if you depend on me remembering a line or two from the prologue to get me up to speed on the folk of G'Nchow I'm just left puzzled.

Tell me what I need to know when I need to know it.

Flynx

 

[Aes]

Just remember this: Is the story about "the world" or "the central characters and their adventures?" Let the world unfold as the character experiences it one piece at a time, rather than dumping the entire goody bag out in the beginning. As someone said, you lose chances to surprise the reader and keep things interesting that way.

Stealing from the post above, your prologue might rattle on about G'Nchow's technodwarves, but does that necessarily mean the character(s) crossing the border know what to expect in G'Nchow? You could have lots of fun with stuff like this!

With the story I plan on writing, I don't want to just spill the entire world's guts in a prologue, as the story will actually take place in a very small part of it. Considering the main character is pretty ignorant to the world, I want both the character(s) and the reader to be surprised when they travel to a neighboring territory, only to find out it's recently become overrun with giant midgets and shrieking mimes.

 

[Rosemary]

Would a map of ' the world' be considered as too much information also?

A map would indicate desert, mountain and sea, giving some indication of what the world is like.

 

[Aes]

Would a map of ' the world' be considered as too much information also?

A map would indicate desert, mountain and sea, giving some indication of what the world is like.

It all depends on how you want to write the story. Obviously, you don't want to put the "Secret Grove of the Albino Wood Elves" on your map because well, it's a secret. Let the characters discover it instead.

Just ask yourself "will something on the map spoil an element of the story for anyone?"

Edit: Depending, you may not want to map the entire world. Why? Because, well what do you suppose a world map looked like before America was discovered?

 

[iansales]

1. Avoid prologues. If you think your story needs one, you've probably started it in the wrong place.

2. Avoid "As you know, Bob" conversations, where one character tells another character something they already know simply in order to get the reader up to speed.

3. Avoid teacher/student conversations -- it's too easy to have the teacher explain something the student should already know. Neither do such passages contribute much to the story.

4. Streamline exposition into the narrative. There's no way of avoiding exposition; the trick is in doing it without spoling the pace of the narrative. A useful technique is to relate any expository passages directly to a character--either by having them observe salient information and reacting to it, or tying the information to their experiences and or memories.

 

[Mark Robson]

Something I learned from reading a lot of David Gemmell novels is that the prologue can be a good place to give a snapshot of the villain doing something really nasty! This gives a sense of peril for the hero from page one, rather than going down the road of historical info dump. I used to detest those Eddings history lessons (I think in the first book, he went on to paraphrase a lot of it in Belgarath's storytelling as well - in case anyone skipped the prologue, I guess!) and ditto the McCaffrey one that was used a lot in her Pern novels.

 

[Coolhand]

Personally, I like Prologues but I don’t think they should be used as history lessons.

I usually try to think of them as the first five minuets of a James Bond movie before the opening credits roll, something that picks you up, hurls you into the midst of another world and gives you a little taste of what is to come. You have to hook someone with your prologue, get them wanting to know more, give them questions they want the answers too. Usually, the best prologues are self contained little stories in themselves that set up the characters or situations that will be encountered in the story proper.

Granted, you could say that all this means is that I’ve taken chapter one and re-named it. Sometimes, you’d be right. But I like the structural feeling and tone of taking a single chapter outside the main body of work and making it stand alone in some way. It just feels nice, somehow.

 

[Susan Boulton]

Do what ever fits your story.

Often with a prologue you set yourself a question, which you answer by writing the story. Whether you keep the prologue when you complete your editing is up to you. Often you find you don't need it, or it gets in the way of the main story telling.

I have found that, in fact a first scene, which was written as a prologue in one story, is now on the "cutting room" floor in one draft of my current effort.

 

[kyektulu]

Thank you for bringing up this topic Ignis, it has been something I have been pondering on for awhile.