Star Wars Style Prologue?

[Christopher Wright]

How are you going to get the text to do that disappearing scrolling thing? I think that's your biggest hurdle. ;-)

 

[Androxine Vortex]

Think about the first time you watched the Fellowship of the Ring. Remember that two minute opening that sort of explained some very crucial information? That was basically a huge infodump (though it's not as bad since it is cinema) but I thought that it was very effective. I felt totally immersed in the LOTR world.

It is a shame that most people skip prologues. But I don't blame them most of the time. Most prologues are useless and hardly have any (significant) relevance. But imagine that I set up the first page as that same kind of intro that the Fellowship had. Do you think that would work?

P.S. Steerpike you changed your avatar! I already miss that hypnotic cat!

 

[Drasn]

I generally try to read prologues as long they're there for more than just infodumping. (ie. Showing off a characters abilities in some situation that's not part of the story, showing an incident that led to the story without being part of the story itself.) Once I realize that I'm reading an infodump I usually skip the rest and go to chapter one.

I have a quote written out on a sticky note that I use through my entire writing process, whether it be outlining, drafting, or revising.

"Never explain anything to your readers before they care about it."

It really does help me to keep the story moving. What is the point of putting in this beautiful back story that I created if all it does is pull the reader away from the actual story. For me, this includes prologues because it is your first chance as an author to capture the reader.

I guess what I'm saying is if you create a situation where the reader actually cares about the back story and needs to know more about it, then you give them what they crave.

 

[wordwalker]

I have a quote written out on a sticky note that I use through my entire writing process, whether it be outlining, drafting, or revising.

"Never explain anything to your readers before they care about it."

That's a magnificent rule, really keeps us in thinking of how facts have to be carried by appealing story, not the other way around.

Although, you could still have background that's worth putting in a prolog, if there's a key fact or two (no more) that are vital enough to put first but don't have to be kept with their related points and fleshed out in a mini-scene. With just a couple of facts you can relate them quickly in ways that, in their brisk style, do make the reader care. "They never expected an invasion" still works.

But you are so right, it's the emotion that matters, and (one way or another) it needs to be where the reader comes into the story. It's after that door is open that we can start exploring what could have got things to that point, as well as what might happen next.

 

[JCFarnham]

There is no point in missing a single page of prose in a book. I much prefer to be disappointed in the order intended.

If I'm drawn to a book, and it has a prologue, I'll go with it. And so I think should all off you. You're doing the author a disservice just because sometimes prologues have been dodgy. Does that mean theirs will be. No. It could be terrible even, but I still think you should read it.

I wouldn't skip any other part of a book, so why should you skip it just because its at the beginning?

 

[Mindfire]

I assume you read the introduction, acknowledgments, foreword, afterword, about the author, and publishing credits also?

 

[MadMadys]

I think it helps to sort of disguise the "infodump" in some sort of way that makes it seem less "dumpy". For instance, I had a prologue for one of my side projects that was basically needed given the setting (scifi-ish) but I hated that it was just sort of there. So I tried a few different framing tools before actually realizing I could weave it into the story in a way. Making it an added part of the mystery that really takes off later on.

Now in general, I don't really mind prologues that just give information that is required but hard to work into the story either because there is too much of it or the story moves too fast to be bogged down with such things. You just have to remember that there are people that do not like that so you have to sort of trick them into reading it.

 

[Steerpike]

I wouldn't skip any other part of a book, so why should you skip it just because its at the beginning?

Like I said, even the author doesn't really believe it is the start of the story, or she wouldn't call it a prologue. Start at the beginning

 

[Feo Takahari]

This is going to turn into the fanfiction thread all over again, isn't it? People who don't read something because they think it's pointless, and haven't seen it done with a purpose because they don't read it . . . I just don't see how this can become productive when the lines have been drawn and one side has no intention of moving.

 

[soulless]

Like I said, even the author doesn't really believe it is the start of the story, or she wouldn't call it a prologue. Start at the beginning

The prologue is at the beginning. I think of it as like the part of a TV show before the opening titles that sets up the episode, would you skip that?

 

[soulless]

I assume you read the introduction, acknowledgments, foreword, afterword, about the author, and publishing credits also?

I often do read the introduction, acknowledgements, foreword and afterword if present, though they are not part of the in story writing like the prologue or epilogue are. I will sometimes also read the about the author section depending on the author.

 

[PaulineMRoss]

I hate prologues with a passion. There are very few good reasons for one. The worst type are just an excuse to get some dramatic action upfront before settling into the much slower pace of Chapter 1 ("He was seven years old before he realised he was special....." zzzzz). It took me four attempts to read 'Game of Thrones' because I just couldn't get past the stupid prologue. Once I got to the execution in the snow and the direwolves, I was hooked. So now when I'm deciding whether to buy a book, I skip past the prologue and read Chapter 1, which is much more representative (but I do read it later, when I actually read the book).

There are some good reasons for them. The prologue in Daniel Abraham's 'Long Price Quartet' is the very foundation of the book, in terms of setting, characters and the whole later tragedy, and the story would be far less meaningful without it. The Elantris one, as someone said upthread, is excellent (and mercifully brief). Possibly it's excellent *because* it's brief.

To the OP, if there's some information you absolutely have to get out upfront and it doesn't fit in Chapter 1, then by all means put it in a prologue, but keep it as short as possible, because *some* of us do read every word and I personally get very cross if the prologue is just an irrelevant opportunity for the protagonist to kick some ass.

 

[Mindfire]

I hate prologues with a passion. There are very few good reasons for one. The worst type are just an excuse to get some dramatic action upfront before settling into the much slower pace of Chapter 1 ("He was seven years old before he realised he was special....." zzzzz). It took me four attempts to read 'Game of Thrones' because I just couldn't get past the stupid prologue. Once I got to the execution in the snow and the direwolves, I was hooked. So now when I'm deciding whether to buy a book, I skip past the prologue and read Chapter 1, which is much more representative (but I do read it later, when I actually read the book).

There are some good reasons for them. The prologue in Daniel Abraham's 'Long Price Quartet' is the very foundation of the book, in terms of setting, characters and the whole later tragedy, and the story would be far less meaningful without it. The Elantris one, as someone said upthread, is excellent (and mercifully brief). Possibly it's excellent *because* it's brief.

To the OP, if there's some information you absolutely have to get out upfront and it doesn't fit in Chapter 1, then by all means put it in a prologue, but keep it as short as possible, because *some* of us do read every word and I personally get very cross if the prologue is just an irrelevant opportunity for the protagonist to kick some ass.

Actually, the action-filled prologues are the only kind I really like. The alternative is a boring infodump.

 

[Steerpike]

The prologue is at the beginning. I think of it as like the part of a TV show before the opening titles that sets up the episode, would you skip that?

No, I don't think it is like that at all. Think about the word "prologue."

 

[PaulineMRoss]

Actually, the action-filled prologues are the only kind I really like. The alternative is a boring infodump.

Really? OK... but I see it as something of a cheat. The author's pulling something out of the middle of the story, or even the backstory, solely to start things off with a bang. The most charitable explanation is that it's a tease - the author's saying, in effect, yes, yes, I know the story starts off slow, but stick with it and look what sort of mega-action you'll be enjoying. Well, I'm a grown-up, I know that most stories start off slow. I'm quite happy to allow the pace to build, so that when the sh*t hits the proverbial, I actually care whether the characters survive or not.

But boring infodump - isn't that a tautology??

 

[Mindfire]

Really? OK... but I see it as something of a cheat. The author's pulling something out of the middle of the story, or even the backstory, solely to start things off with a bang. The most charitable explanation is that it's a tease - the author's saying, in effect, yes, yes, I know the story starts off slow, but stick with it and look what sort of mega-action you'll be enjoying. Well, I'm a grown-up, I know that most stories start off slow. I'm quite happy to allow the pace to build, so that when the sh*t hits the proverbial, I actually care whether the characters survive or not.

But boring infodump - isn't that a tautology??

Well it makes sense. You WANT to start the book with something interesting for the same reason that video games advertise the mid-game, the most exciting part, and not the early game when you start off as a scrub. Action packed prologues make it easier to judge whether I'll enjoy the story later on. The very reason you hate it is the reason I like it. Starting with a bang is a plus for me.

And being a grown-up is overrated.

 

[Ireth]

But boring infodump - isn't that a tautology??

Not necessarily. Infodumps don't have to be boring. Take for example the Council of Elrond chapter in the LOTR book -- there's no denying that that's an infodump of epic proportions, but it was interesting (to me, at least) and relevant. We found out what happened to Gandalf when Saruman betrayed him, some of the history of Sauron and the earlier Ages of Middle-earth, why the Ring is so important, and how it being found has affected countries as far as Gondor.

 

[PaulineMRoss]

And being a grown-up is overrated.

The perfect riposte. I concede defeat.

 

[Twook00]

There was a time when I skipped EVERY prologue. I considered them optional, almost like an anecdote or a bonus chapter... Then I read Game of Thrones and regretted skipping it because seeing 'the Others' that soon would have been a huge hook for me. Instead, I spent the first 200 pages wondering... what is the freaking point of all this?

Then I finished it (after putting it down a few times) and read the prologue. It changed everything about the series, because it revealed the big picture and gave me something to look forward to.

Wheel of Time did this as well, using the prologue to give insight to the big picture, which we wouldn't be seeing for some time.

In Black Sun Rising, the prologue was used exceptionally well and actually added a big twist to the story. The scene itself set the mood for the book and definitely kept me reading through some of the muck in the beginning.

I think the best prologues raise questions while giving you an idea of what the real story is about.

 

[Mindfire]

There was a time when I skipped EVERY prologue. I considered them optional, almost like an anecdote or a bonus chapter... Then I read Game of Thrones and regretted skipping it because seeing 'the Others' that soon would have been a huge hook for me. Instead, I spent the first 200 pages wondering... what is the freaking point of all this?

Then I finished it (after putting it down a few times) and read the prologue. It changed everything about the series, because it revealed the big picture and gave me something to look forward to.

Wheel of Time did this as well, using the prologue to give insight to the big picture, which we wouldn't be seeing for some time.

In Black Sun Rising, the prologue was used exceptionally well and actually added a big twist to the story. The scene itself set the mood for the book and definitely kept me reading through some of the muck in the beginning.

I think the best prologues raise questions while giving you an idea of what the real story is about.

If Game of Thrones had managed to inject the same awesomness I got in the prologue into the actual book, I might have finished it instead of reading part of chapter 1 and abandoning it forever after I heard about how it ends.