Opinions on Pro and Epilogues

[barrett1987]

What's the opinion on them?

Prologues - how should they be used? Short and snappy? Completely abstract and not making sense until much later in the book? Whats the rules/thoughts on them?

Same for epilogues too i guess.

 

[Juliana]

I don't mind a prologue, as long as its not too long and as long as its clear its a prologue (don't want to become invested in a character who might not appear again, or not until much later!). If well done, it can be a sort of teaser of things to come.

Not too keen on epilogues, though. I think they make sense in a long-standing series like Harry Potter where fans absolutely want to know what happens next, but so unecessary, really. Surely the story can stop where the story stops, and readers can imagine what comes next?!

 

[Brian G Turner]

So far as I understand it, Prologues are commonly misused - ie, to provide backstory, rather than plot - hence why agents often recommend against them.

 

[lonewolfwanderer]

So far as I understand it, Prologues are commonly misused - ie, to provide backstory, rather than plot - hence why agents often recommend against them.

And if the prologue was used as both a back story and an introduction to the plot of the story?

I've got something similar in my WIP where it is back story but it leads up to the main plot of the book, so am also curious on the verdict.

Kind of what David Eddings did in his Mallorean and Belgariad series...

 

[Khayos]

I feel like prologues should only be used if absolutely necessary. If the plot you're including in it can be used elsewhere (a few chapters in, mentioned in part of a dialogue) then a prologue may not be necessary. However, I also believe that rules are there to be broken, especially in writing, and if it can be made to work, then it works. But as I, Brian said, they are commonly misused, and I wouldn't write one unless I was confident in my ability to do so.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

On the subject of agents - a lot of them have gone on record saying they don't like prologues and see them as an indication the author can't get their backstory in smoothly, and because they often don't feature the mc from the query. I took them out of two of my books based on that - though I still have a very short one in one book and neither book is any the worse for it.

 

[thaddeus6th]

I've only used one (an Epilogue) so far. That was to tie up the story after a change of time and place that made it distinct from the main body of the plot.

If it works, by all means include it. Generally, I don't think they're necessary.

 

[Boneman]

Malice starts with two prologues, sixteen years apart, and the second is an extract of writing, with no idea of who is reading it, which was purportedly written two thousand years before. Its relevance is impossible to see, and JJ is the agent, so he must like prologues!!

 

[Tyburn]

Perils of the Death Moon! starts with a single chapter that doesn't feature the main character, but explains how the character he has to rescue comes to need rescuing in the first place. I don't like calling it a prologue, but if I started with Captain Flight's introduction it'd be more dialogue heavy with not too much happening (Flight's intro is fine, but as an opening chapter I feel it would probably put people off)

The only other thing I could imagine would be to introduce Captain Flight in one of the rare instances he was in action before he took command of his first ship, though that would be in flashback form and probably still be considered prologue-esque.

Again technically speaking the last chapter could be considered an Epilogue, as it takes place after the final battle and is Captain Flight at his court-martial. I don't really see it as an epilogue, it's tying up a few loose ends and establishing a precedent for the Lt. Jimmy Church character.

 

[HareBrain]

There's the issue that some readers and agents don't like them and will skip them, but even apart from that, I think they can make things risky for writers.

A prologue has to make a good start to the story -- this cannot wait till chapter 1. To work, it must engage and grip the reader on its own account. But if you grip the reader with the prologue, what happens when it ends? You get a jolt moving from prologue to ch1, and you have to grip the reader again, just as effectively -- perhaps more so -- or they risk getting frustrated with the switch.

If you do manage to grip them twice, then you've drawn them into a multifaceted story, and this can be very effective. If either one fails to grip, however (and quite a few writers seem to rely on a prologue to make up for a slow ch1) then you're sunk.

 

[Glitch]

Assuming readers may skip a prologue, it shouldn't contain any information which is vital to understanding the remainder of the story. Essentially this leave the prologue as a short story about the world or characters of the full story.

A prologue can be useful in explaining how we got to where we are - like a condensed history lesson. The events of the prologue would not be required reading for the main story, but provide some background to the world its set in.

Like anything, it depends on how well it's done. And everyone will have a different view.

 

[ZombieWife]

For all the caterwauling about horrible prologues that make people's souls die with the intensity of a thousand black holes, I've never come across a really crappy one. I read a lot, too. Maybe it's that I don't read self-published works or ebook only titles. Maybe I'm just reading the wrong damn stuff.

But, nope, never been burned so badly that I swear them off.

I've seen info-dump prologues work well. I've seen distant past prologues work well. I've seen many kinds of prologues work. It really depends on how it's executed.

I say go for it. I don't read a header and say, "OH MY GOD, IT IS A PROLOGUE" and then start hissing like a vampire being doused with holy water. I read it. If I'm uncertain by the end of the prologue as to whether or not I'll keep going, I'll go a few chapters in.

 

[Nick B]

We started with a long prologue but have now changed to merely chapter 1 lol, we now have potentially an actual prologue though only for the first book in series but due to what it is, if we go ahead and use it, it actually takes place after the whole series regarding that set of characters has ended...
I have no issues with prologues as long as they are actually relevant to the story and arn't trying to hard to be the hook that makes you read the novel.

 

[alchemist]

For all the caterwauling about horrible prologues that make people's souls die with the intensity of a thousand black holes, I've never come across a really crappy one. I read a lot, too. Maybe it's that I don't read self-published works or ebook only titles. Maybe I'm just reading the wrong damn stuff.

But, nope, never been burned so badly that I swear them off.

I've seen info-dump prologues work well. I've seen distant past prologues work well. I've seen many kinds of prologues work. It really depends on how it's executed.

I say go for it. I don't read a header and say, "OH MY GOD, IT IS A PROLOGUE" and then start hissing like a vampire being doused with holy water. I read it. If I'm uncertain by the end of the prologue as to whether or not I'll keep going, I'll go a few chapters in.

In a similar vein, to me it beggars belief that readers will skip the first chapter of a book because it says PROLOGUE at the top. How can you assume a chapter is unnecessary before you've even read it?

But in answer to the OP, if you want it published don't use a prologue. If you must, call it Chapter One and then put "5 years later" at the start of Chapter Two.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Malice starts with two prologues, sixteen years apart, and the second is an extract of writing, with no idea of who is reading it, which was purportedly written two thousand years before. Its relevance is impossible to see, and JJ is the agent, so he must like prologues!!

There'll always be exceptions but a quick google search threw up these (and lots more):


Writer Unboxed » What NOT to Do When Beginning Your Novel: Advice from Literary Agents

Things That Will Make Literary Agents Throw Your Novel Across the Room
Cassandra Marshall : Freelance Editor : Author : Lit Agency Staff: Eight Reasons I Hate Your Book


Janet Reid says send the first chapter and only admit to a prologue if you hook an agent.

The bottom line is, even though loads of popular books have them, they're next after dream sequences and looking in a mirror for agents.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

[QUOTE
Kind of what David Eddings did in his Mallorean and Belgariad series...[/QUOTE]

I have a copy of Book One of the Belgariad, which I bought some years ago.
The story is not bad, but the prologue, seven pages of guff about ancient gods, is appalling. I didn't re-read all the prologue...
If anyone is tempted to imitate this 1980's prologue, my advice is ... don't.

 

[tinkerdan]

When I'm reading and there is a prologue I expect it to mean something to the story to the plot and somewhere have at least an honorable mention later.

If it were irrelevant and something the reader could skip then it doesn't belong there at all.

Maybe if you want to do an intermission midway throw it in there if you dare. Otherwise it better be relevant or I'll be upset.

I recently read a book with a prologue that is only mildly relevant in the first book because the author divided the whole work into two books and I told him he should have put the prologue in the second book because it made almost no sense where it was and had relevance to the second book. For that matter he could have used it as a teaser for the second book.

 

[ZombieWife]

In a similar vein, to me it beggars belief that readers will skip the first chapter of a book because it says PROLOGUE at the top. How can you assume a chapter is unnecessary before you've even read it?

But in answer to the OP, if you want it published don't use a prologue. If you must, call it Chapter One and then put "5 years later" at the start of Chapter Two.

Yeah, I kind of shrug when I hear that.

I have something prologue'ish in my book, but you better damn well believe it's not called a "prologue." Even some agents are getting caught up in the panty tornado about prologues. I get it. Many amateurs will use it as a crutch to deliver a suck-fest of world-building/info dump, and they'll do it poorly. But chances are--if they're doing that poorly, the rest of the book will probably fail on other levels.

But many many many (X10000) writers do it splendidly.

Bottom line: do it well, no matter what you call it.

 

[Leo de Hauteville]

In my current wip I'm in a similar spot. My first chapter is a scene which sets the tone and introduces the mystery and conflict, using a character who the reader is supposed to believe to be dead afterwards, only for him to turn back up in a dungeon later (albeit not as a pov then.)

I've labelled it as a prologue, if only for the reason that we're in the head of a character we don't really get back into.

 

[Toby Frost]

My own suggestion would be this:

Write the prologue if you like. I can’t see it doing any harm in the finished, printed book. Loads of very successful fantasy novels have them. If you really want to do it the traditional way, make the prologue about someone low-ranking and naïve – perhaps a peasant – who blunders into sinister evil stuff. Then kill him gruesomely at the end of it, and use the rest of the book to talk about the nobility, who are actually of importance.

But I agree that you should take it out when submitting the manuscript to publishers. This is partly because the prologue won’t be part of the main narrative, and hence doesn’t say much about the setting or characters, and because it may well come out at an awkward length. Does a prologue count as a chapter, anyhow?

And while we're on the subject, may I mention a pet hate? Epicness is usually a bad idea. A film can get away with a shot of some vast spaceship rolling through the hugeness of space; a novel needs something to happen, usually to individuals. Most attempts at purple prose don't work, so I would suggest avoiding recitations of ancient prophesy (I've seen far too many of these for them to inspire any awe) or anything like "Long has man gazed up at the stars, and thirsted to call them home. Yet in the year 64,359 one man..."