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Thanks for your comment on my new blog. I responded, but honestly I have no idea if that means you get the response automatically or if you have to visit again and chance upon it! :) Thanks for the friendship!"
Offer Prologue or Jump Right In?
Hello--I'm new to the group and eager to follow more of your discussion threads, so I'll throw one out: What do you think of the use of Prologue to begin a memoir? Is it tiresome and old-fashioned, or is it a smooth-riding vehicle to carry backstory to the reader? I'm in the editing stage of Next Stop, a memoir about letting go of my autistic adult son--forthcoming from Putnam in 2011-- and I'm taking a second look at my brief Prologue. Of course, it all depends on having a killer opening line, but perhaps it's bolder to open in-scene with Chapter One and trust your reader to catch up. Any thoughts here?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Stacy-Deanne on -
Hi Glen,
I'll be honest, you're gonna get a bias answer from me, LOL. I hate reading prologues and I never write them in my own books. I write crime fiction and mysteries by the way. I'm one of those that skip reading prologues, UNLESS it's a scene leading up to the story. I am one of those low attention span readers who needs to be hooked and interested immediately or I won't continue reading. I hate prologues because I love to jump in. If it's a significant scene, I'll read it because I know it's important. But if it's just a big passage of narrative telling backstory, I skip it. Granted, everyone might not feel the same way but I am definitely one of those jump in folks.
Is it possible to just not write a prologue for your memoir and just include it into the book? I think as long as something is interesting, it will work but don't just have a prologue just to relay information. Make sure there is a need for a prologue. If you can include the stuff in your manuscript, do it like that. But if you really can't find another way but to put it as an opening, I guess that's the best way.
Different books call for different things.
Best Wishes!
http://www.stacy-deanne.net
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Permalink Reply by Glen Finland on -
Stacy-Deanne,
I love a woman who knows what she wants. Thanks so much for that honest assessment. I'm inclined to agree with your take on the matter.
-Glen
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Permalink Reply by Tulasi-Priya on -
I don't mind prologues, but I agree with Stacy-Deanne: do what the book needs. It seems to me it would make the book more interesting, give it more layers and depth, if the back story is woven through the story, but that's only one way of doing things. It also demands more of a writer. Good luck with the editing phase.
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Permalink Reply by Stacy-Deanne on
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LOL! Glad I helped!
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Permalink Reply by Anita Bartholomew on
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Most, but not all, prologues are throat-clearing exercises. Ask your editor whether yours works and is needed.
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Permalink Reply by Maryanne Carman on -
Its a question I've been interested in hearing an answer for and I'm glad I found someone who asked! Also, the honest answer has given me something to think about. Thank you both :o)
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Permalink Reply by Dasaya Cates on -
I would have to agree with what's been said. Unless it's crucial to the story (i.e. a backstory explanation or something that happened before which your reader really needs to know, but it doesn't quite weave into the book w/o the prologue) or it's incredibly interesting, I find prologues to be bland and usually unneccesary. There are, of course, no absolutes concerning this, but I find this most of the time.
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Permalink Reply by Anna Elliott on -
That's a really interesting debate! It depends on the book, obviously. I've read prologues that I definitely could have skipped, and others that I loved. My own books never felt 'right' to me without a prologue. So if your instinct is telling you your story needs a prologue, by all means leave it in, I'd say!
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Permalink Reply by DelRica Jackson on -
I personally LOVE prologues. I think it is quite old-fashioned, but I like old-fashioned, and fits with the style of writing you're doing. Hint: Labeling it traditional may make the idea more palatable. You may even want someone else to write the prologue, if you feel you're just too close to the material.
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Permalink Reply by Stacy-Deanne on
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Speaking of prologues, I am reading a book now that had a prologue that I felt could have been much better if the work was in the actual story. Anyway, I'm halfway through the book and the author put important info in her prologue, but it backfired to me because now that I'm in the middle of the book, I don't remember any of the prologue and hadn't realized that I had to go back to the prologue to understand what was going on.
Those types of prologues are confusing. If you have a lot of information in the prologue that's important, sometimes readers don't think of going back to the beginning. The book is frustrating me now because it's like her plot has holes yet she had stuff in the prologue she could have put in the body of the book and it would've made the book more interesting. I don't like having to flip back to the front every other scene because she introduced all the characters in the prologue, and now I don't know who these folks are because some of them, were absent until now, LOL!
I wanna be able to read the book straight and not have to turn back to the prologue just to finish the book. This was definitely a book that didn't need a prologue. It takes away instead of helps for this particular story. I wonder what her editor was thinking.
Best Wishes!
http://www.stacy-deanne.net
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Permalink Reply by Faith M. Boughan on -
I like most prologues in fiction, but in non-fiction I tend to skim them as the information often reads as excess word-vomit from the author... mind you, there are always exceptions to both :)
I'd go with whatever your editor wants; he/she should have the best advice for you on whether it's a good fit for your book.
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Permalink Reply by Melanie Sweeney on -
My favorite prologues are ones that are entirely in scene. No explanations at all, only image and sound. That's not to say that it should be confusing or disconnected from the narrative, but I think you can do a lot with one quick snippet from "the beginning" or the past, or even later present action, that sets a tone/mood immediately.
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