Length of prologue/chapter - Page 2 - Writers Forum

mi is happy · 11-01-2007, 08:22 PM

As many as suficiant. If you look at some books the chapters are more like short novels and with others they are only a page long. It just depends on your style

Ambuu · 11-01-2007, 09:12 PM

for my quadrilogy, I find that a prologue can be very helpful.

My prologue:
-Gives a description of what happened in the world up until that point
-who the antagonists are
-an idea of who the protagonists are
-it sets up the story with a small fight and a death
-goes through a time skip at the end to start off part one.

i think the reader wont get confused or bored. the reader can still skip the prologue and understand where the story is coming from.
But with my story, the prologue adds on to the story in the later parts. just an idea i came up with yesterday

Falken · 11-01-2007, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ambuu

for my quadrilogy, I find that a prologue can be very helpful.

My prologue:
-Gives a description of what happened in the world up until that point
-who the antagonists are
-an idea of who the protagonists are
-it sets up the story with a small fight and a death
-goes through a time skip at the end to start off part one.

i think the reader wont get confused or bored. the reader can still skip the prologue and understand where the story is coming from.
But with my story, the prologue adds on to the story in the later parts. just an idea i came up with yesterday

Yeah that is just the type of prologue my novel has too, it's very useful to read if you want some better insight to the whole thing.
But if you are going to read a long novel why skip reading the prologue? I can't really grasp that idea.

lisajane · 11-01-2007, 10:39 PM

I hate prologues that just explain the end, then you start chapter one at the beginning. The novel I'm reading now (Road to Paradise, Paullina Simons) is wonderful but the prologue has what happens at the end... where's the sodden point of that?

I did write one prologue once. By chapter two it was gone.

Mr Sci Fi · 11-01-2007, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falken

Yeah I guess you are right here, maybe my Prologue should be Chapter 1, my current Prologue introduces the history of a organisations rise that has the central role in the story. It's not a thing you tell in 1000 words or less, but maybe this should be Chapter 1?

You can read my story without the history bit, but from my own perspective I would just find it confusing to read something with no background information on what this is.
But I always seen the Prolouge in a book as a part of the whole, and not something i'm can just skip because why would it even be written if it's just an appendix?

All the events and history of the world should be fed to the reader bit by bit, enough to get him to understand what's going on yet not so much that it becomes a huge info dump. Backstory is a balancing act.

People skip prologues because they are boring. Readers want to read some good fiction, not a text book. I urge you to read Orson Scott Card's, "How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy." He dedicates an entire chapter to this.

Card uses Lord of the Rings as an example. Everything the reader learns about the history of Middle Earth is through the eyes of Frodo. As Frodo gradually learns, the reader is right along with him. By the time Frodo is at council with Elrond, we already know a great deal about the world, because we've been right there with the characters experiencing it. In prologues, we do not yet know any of the characters, and we have all these names and places thrown in our faces at once. We don't yet care about any of it.

Taxiday · 11-02-2007, 07:51 PM

Wow! What a great thread.
Sure put me back on my heels about prologues -- think I'm gonna dump mine and figure out how to get more of a hook in Chap 1.
Then,I'll put the Prologue in the body of the story where it belongs.
No wonder I come to this and other forums.

bob rulz · 11-04-2007, 05:30 AM

The prologue made sense in my story because it takes place 15 years before the main story itself, and it is the events of perhaps the most important plot point in the story. It was also only about 3 pages long. However, I decided it wasn't a big deal to have this as part of Chapter 1, so I just incorporated the prologue into it.

But I also don't think it's a big deal to have a prologue. I usually give a prologue a chance, because they're not all infodumps. They don't necessarily need to be there, but if they're there, might as well see if it has anything useful to say. If it's actually a part of the story (which is rare, but I've seen it), rather than just giving history or backstory, you might as well read it.

Chapter-writing in itself I believe can be an art form. Where to begin and end chapters can do a lot for pacing and mood.

New Moon · 11-04-2007, 09:00 AM

I agree with what a lot of people are saying, that very few people actually read prologues, I hadn't reall thought about it before, but I tend to dread prologies (and yet I use them, such a shame). But I don't think it really matters too much how long they are, just say what needs to be said and be done with it.