Have you read my novel Bad Case? Maybe, maybe not.
Bad Case starts with a prologue and anyone who knows me knows that I hate prologues. But I did it anyway, I wrote it after I wrote the first couple chapters and needed that chapter to be there right in front and obvious.
So I thought about it and stared at that word: "Prologue" and stared at it and deleted it and rewrote it and thought about it some more. And decided to keep it. It's actually the thing I struggled with the most in the book, everything else came nice and natural-like.
But I don't like prologues. It's not the contents, I've never not read a prologue, it's really just another chapter, but there's something about a chapter labeled "Prologue" that's always bugged me a little. It's more of an idiotic mental block than anything. Good thing I have friends who feel the same way, or I'd feel like a real jerk. But there I was, sitting on my couch with the laptop and staring and thinking about chapters and prologues and epilogues and thinking and thinking and thinking.
Then I stopped thinking and wrote the damned thing. It's just a chapter with a different name, and it works. I said once I'd never buy a foreign car and I think about that sometimes when I'm in our Honda van with the wife.
So I wrote the prologue and I'm happy with it, satisfied that it's there and won't take it back. Done.
Will I write another one? I have no idea, I let the story take the front seat and pretty much close my eyes and write. So far nothing else I have in progress has a prologue, but they all have a first chapter.
I'm an admitted hypocrite. The guy who hates prologues, writing a prologue. But I take full responsibility for my actions. And it's a good story, I think you'll like it.
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Related Links:
Read Chapter 1 (Not the prologue) of BAD CASE here.
A new face on BAD CASE.
Why would you want to read BAD CASE?
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Hey Connor.
ReplyDeleteNice post on prologues.
I, too, have struggled with them. And, like you, I wound up writing one and sticking it where it should probably be, at the beginning of Book 1 of my series.
I've struggled with them (prologues) because I've read that a lot of agents don't like them, a lot of editors don't like them, a lot of readers don't like them. And a lot of writers don't like them. The argument is that if it's so bloody important, it should be a chapter. If it's backstory, we don't need it until chapter 20. Plus a lot of readers want to skip it entirely. I've sometimes had that desire. Apparently some readers will also skip paragraphs that they deem too long. I would like to suggest that these people are idiots and are not genuine in their love of books, but are instead reading it because everyone else is reading it, or because they think they should, or because they didn't pay the DishNetwork bill and they can't watch American Idol.
My opinion is that if you ARE going to include a prologue, it should be short and sweet and should add something to the work the lack of which would be felt otherwise.