Hi everybody,
Just read a comment by Terry on a piece of work in which he says:

Personally, I always challenge myself when thinking that I should use a prologue. This is because I know, deep down, that I'm looking for an easy way to introduce plot tension. Which can backfire, in that the reader keeps the implication of the prologue in mind while reading the story proper, and that can both mute his appreciation of it and have him disappointed when the question raised by the prologue is finally answered.

I'd like to open this up, as I've just done this very thing: and yes, it was a way to introduce plot tension. Is this a 'cheap trick' or a useful tool in the writer's kit? (I'm sitting precariously on the fence at the moment). Am interested to know what others think about this whole prologue thing...
Susiex

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I should add that Terry follows this by:

"Which isn't to say you shouldn't use one, of course."

As a writer I have sercumbed to their dubious charms, but as a reader I hate them - especially the ones taken out of the main body of the work purely to hook the reader in.

I don't mind the ones that are stylistically different from the main prose style, told in another pov to the main story, and preceed the main story by several years or centuries. Although I may still skip it.

- NaomiM

What is the function of a prologue? Is it to 'lay out your wares', to set a tone, to hook the reader? Is it a direct message from the writer to the reader? Does anyone know of any examples of prologues which 'work' and prologues which don't?
Susiex

Is it to 'lay out your wares', to set a tone,

Heaven forbid!

to hook the reader?

Chapter One should do that, but it doesn't do any harm if the prologue gives the reader a little leg up.

Is it a direct message from the writer to the reader?

God, no!

Does anyone know of any examples of prologues which 'work' and prologues which don't?

Vampirates' prologue put my son off reading the book - a scene taken from the body of the work.
Book Thief prologue with spoilers to the main story put me off that book.
I don't mind Crime & Thriller novels that start with a murder and are usually told in another pov.
Sci-fi novels that set up another world in the prologue are fine.
The prologue in the children's book Nickolai of the North is fine - describes the creation of the MC's homeland, and is set several centuries before Chapter One.






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Chapter One 'sets the tone'.

- this was another feature of the Book Thief prologue which I hated.

I don't mind the ones that are stylistically different from the main prose style, told in another pov to the main story, and preceed the main story by several years or centuries. Although I may still skip it.

I have a prologue in A Secret Alchemy, which fulfills all these criteria, except that it's set after all the 15th century events in the novel, though not (obviously) after the 20th century events. But then two of the three main strands have a double time-scheme anyway. The novel will make perfect sense if you do skip it, but you'd be missing a whole layer of meaning.

I do agree, though, that an impulse to use a prologue needs to be scrutinised very, very carefully indeed. There are times when it's just the job, but more often than not it isn't, just a lazy way of setting up tension, or coping with the fact that the 'real' opening of the novel is quiet and lacking in dead bodies, or filling in a piece of plot that your chosen PoV or narrative structure won't allow otherwise.

Emma

Just to qualify one of my exclamations

Is it a direct message from the writer to the reader?

That is fairly common in Non-fiction, but should be avoided in Ficiton. However, I se no problem with using the omniscient pov, so long as the tone is not overtly author-itarian.

Prologues, if well written, are one of the best ways to get the reader in among the action right from the start.
In my novel - Damaged Goods- I kick off with a letter from a child to her mother threatening to kill her. This poses the questions who? why? Only later when the mother is actually found dead does its relevance really kick in.
Also on a practical note to unpublished authors, you must have a fantastic opening. My agent tells me he gets hundreds of mss each week. With the best will in the world only intriguing openers will stand out. Beautiful prose will not.
Similarly my editor told me she can tell if she's going to take a book after ten pages...and that's double spaced...as they say over the pond - you do the math.
Helen Black

Unrequited has a prologue and an epilogue, although they are not called that. I think they worked ok and suited the elliptical, roundabout plot of the novel. I wouldn't use a prologue all the time, however, and agree with a lot of the points here, both for and against.

JB

I love them, both as a reader and as a writer. Especially in crime novels. They often offer a strong voice which couldn't be sustained over a whole novel - like a whack of chilli or garlic - but which excites the senses and yanks you into the book. They're also a good indication to whether you'll like and trust the writing.

Like most techniques or devices, I think it is less about whether you use a prologue and more about doing it well and for very good reasons.

If the prologue grabs the reader and gives them something to think about, lodging something in their brain which they can't shake till the last page; and if it is there for well-thought out, considered reasons (rather than as a compromise) put it in.

In my Prologue which I'm still tinkering with, I introduce a phone call which ultimately results in execution in prison.

I love a good prologue which raises questions and which prompts the reader to read on. So, yes, I'm all for the prologue.

I do like 'em in crime fiction - the juicy fragment from later - or earlier - which you don't understand until later, but hooks you in, and sets a tone, and you keep flashing back to it and wondering how it fits in. Because crime fiction is all a jigsaw anyway, maybe prologues fit in well with the genre.

Outside of crime, can't think of any examples of prologues I've thought were good. But then I can't think of any much at all! Useless. Sorry.

Rosy

Like JB I've used a prologue and epiloge though I title them differently - but that's what they are. I actually came back to write the prologue when the book was generally finished and it contains the main elements which lead to impact of the story... just a teaser but laying down clues. The epilogue could be lost - it's more just an 'info after the event', so could be taken or left, but again, it does relate back to something vital.

I really like them anyway - that's all I'm trying to say!

Thanks all for your thoughts - it seems there are as many attitudes to prologues as there are writers! Bit shy of asking this, but if anyone has time to look at my prologue and bit of first chapter, and tell me what you think about whether it works or not, I'd be extremely grateful.
Susiex

Well I left a comment, Susie, but you're not going to like it. Sorry.

- NaomiM