Comments on: Do You Think a Prologue Should Stay, or No Way?

By: Maureen L. Bonatch

Maureen L. Bonatch — Fri, 19 Oct 2018 21:34:04 +0000

In reply to Marissa Garner. Thank you Marissa! It's great to hear different opinions, and obviously prologues do have a place, or they wouldn't still be in so many books. Your point is a good one, and valid, even without the Daphne (although that's super awesome!) I think having a purpose is one of the key elements, as some prologues don't seem to achieve what yours obviously does. :)

By: Helen Henderson

Helen Henderson — Fri, 19 Oct 2018 18:34:14 +0000

good point that the prologue is the past and the analogy about learning someone’s past before you even meet them. It’s like someone launching into their full medical history before you’ve even been introduced. The one exception, and it is one I’ve taken advantage of, is when a fantasy has a prophecy that sets the stage for the book.

By: Marissa Garner

Marissa Garner — Fri, 19 Oct 2018 15:55:09 +0000

I feel differently about prologues. I don’t mind reading a prologue if it serves a real purpose, but I have also read some that were a waste of time. And I’ve used a prologue a couple times in my own books. For example, RISKY REDEMPTION, that just won the Daphne, has a short prologue. It’s not an info dump because it doesn’t even use names or places. It’s not backstory because it actually happens 15 weeks AFTER the point in time the story starts in Chapter 1. But it is an intense scene that leaves an impression that something awful happens, but the reader doesn’t know for sure, so it instantly creates suspense. I consider that a real purpose.

By: Holly Bargo

Holly Bargo — Fri, 19 Oct 2018 14:29:50 +0000

Few authors write good prologues; most use them as mind-numbing information dumps of background. Therefore, I dislike them for much the same reasons as you.