The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart. Once upon a time In a far-off kingdom There lay a small village At the edge of the woods. The opening scene of Into the Woods is a prologue. This prologue helps the audience quickly understand the issues the characters are facing. A prologue tells you what happened before the main story; an epilogue tells you what happened after. Sometimes, for example, a movie will end by showing various characters on screen and telling you what happened to them: this character is in prison, this character got married and is living in Montana, etc.
Epilogues put a cap on the story and give readers a sense of closure. A prologue sets the stage and lets readers know how things got the way they are.
More often, this information is explained later on as the story progresses. The Terminator HD Intro. Into the Woods: Stephen Sondheim. List of Terms Action.
Ad Hominem. Alter Ego. APA Citation. Comic Relief. Deus ex machina. Double Entendre. Dramatic irony. I have been known to use phrases such as 'Prologues are for Authors too bored with their own stories to write them from the beginning'. However, my current WiP has 'educated' me. Soon after beginning the writing in earnest, it became clear that nothing I was writing would make the slightest bit of sense to an uninitiated reader.
After some soul searching, I 'rolled over' and accepted that I needed to 'lead the reader into my story'. It appeared that a Prologue was indeed unavoidable. With that fixed I moved on to the Prologue. Soon it became clear that a simple short 'chapter' was going to be insufficient. There was simply too much that needed covering.
A Prologue in two chapters? The idea of turning the Prologue into a novellette was born. The novellette rapidly inflated itself into a full novel. At this time, the 'Prologue' is likely to turn into a series of 3 plus novels.
To some extent, I have circled completely round and am back at my starting point. If it is an important part of the plot arc, then give it the dignity of its own story. However, I have now grown inside and am far more tolerant and understanding towards those that write Prologues. Interesting read. I used in my first novel a prologue and epilogue as a container for the story.
So the book is in fact a story-in-a-story concept. Has anyone ever heard of a "double prologue"? In my "evangelical thriller", The Witch in the Wardrobe, I have done just that. Both are murder scenes that take place about 7 months before chapter one. As prologue entries both murders are completely unrelated and only later do we see their relationship.
I suppose I could have chose just the one but now I have convinced myself that both add quality to the novel. The critic should, of course, have to read my story to properly speak, but i am open to any gereral comments here or an offer to read my opening. Kinda interesting but not enough detail. I'm writing book two of a series was hoping to find a better way to build a bridge from book one over to book two.
Any Ideas anyone. If you add a new chapter, you can drag it into the 'front matter section' on the side bar. For example, in a sci-fi book, it may be useful to include a description of the alien world, perhaps in a scene that illustrates its essential characteristics and functioning, so as not to confuse readers by plunging them into a completely foreign world in the first chapter and having to explain it then or leave them lost, which may lead to disinterest.
Grabbing readers' attention with a scene from the story. The author could pick an exciting scene from the middle of the story to draw readers in and make them want to keep reading. Describing a scene from the past that is important to the story, such as a fire where the main character's father is killed, which is the motivation for the action in the novel.
Giving information from a different point of view. The story is written in first person, and the prologue is in third person.
The prologue focuses on a secret of one of the characters which the main character would have no way of knowing, and the author would not otherwise be able to tell the reader due to the first person perspective.
Expressing a different point in time. For example, the prologue may be about the main character who is in her eighties and who is remembering her childhood, which is when the story takes place and which begins in Chapter 1. Why shouldn't I write a prologue? So you've decided to write a prologue Writing a prologue, just like the writing process in general, varies according to the individual.
Make it interesting! You want to get the proverbial hook in right away to make readers want to keep reading. Don't think because you have a hook in the prologue that you don't also have to have one in the first chapter. Think of the prologue as a separate entity. A good general rule is that it should have all the components of a short story, except that no conflict is resolved.
Make the length appropriate. You don't want the prologue to drag on for half the book. It should be an introduction to the main story. Use it to set the mysterious tone for the novel. Limit the background information; there are other techniques that can be used to weave the history into the fabric of the novel. Don't dump too much on readers at the very beginning.
If you're having trouble deciding what to do, read other authors' prologues. There are so many styles to choose from, so reading what's been done before may give you a great idea for your own.
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