Hatrack River Writers Workshop: To Prologue or not to prologue

This is topic To Prologue or not to prologue in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/writers/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003552

Posted by Donelle (Member # 4677) on :

I know it’s usually best to start a story with, as OSC put it, the inciting incident; the incident which gets the protagonist involved with the story. But when should one use a prologue?

I’m generally not a big fan of them but I recently began writing a sci-fi novella which I started with a short prologue. My intention is to wet the reader’s appetite for what’s to come. I also want the reader to get a feel for the world to which I’m going to introduce them.

I’m currently debating weather or not to cut the prologue and instead insert the necessary information into the story as exposition. While I think I could work around most of the issues associated with this, I think the opening of the story isn’t so exciting (Perhaps an indicator that I should begin elsewhere?). Admittedly, I would like to use the prologue to make up for a very short (about two or three paragraphs) lull at the beginning of the story.

Ugh… So many questions now! Does my opening need to be exciting to be a hook? Do I really need a hook in the first place? Why can’t I just take my time telling the story like I want to, or is that a luxury reserved for established writers?

But I digress…

I’m not a big fan of fantasy stories and many of them begin with prologues. IMO prologues in many fantasies are a promise that something good is going to happen eventually, so just wade through the major boring crap that’s sure to follow until then. (I should note that my Sci-fi Novella is a little fantasyesqe)

As a new writer, will a prologue at the start of my story send it straight to the slush pile? What’s the lesser of two evils, a weak opening or a strong prologue?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

P.s.
I’ll probably post my prologue and/or story opening on the fragments and feed back soon so look out for it!

Posted by franc li (Member # 3850) on :

"Start" is a relative term. I keep remembering that Memory of Earth begins with Nefai taking a cold shower (but not because he "needed" one). However, I also recall there was a family tree and possibly a pronunciation guide before that.

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

A strong prologue has to be every bit as interesting as a strong first chapter. Prologues don't get some kind of special exemption from the demands of narrative, it's just that most prologues are poorly written and add nothing to the story.