I have noticed that the following seems to happen:

When writing a novel the first 30,000 to 40,000 words flow out relatively easily, but then one hits the notorious doldrums and the real grinding work begins. It is at this point that, for me anyway, the doubts begin to form. The main doubt I always have is with the very first chapter - is it gripping enough? If not, then I'm wasting my time continuing with the rest of the book. For unpublished writers the pressure on this first chapter is intense - the final submission will rise or fall on the quality of this little section. Excuses such as "well, the first chapter is a little slow, but it gets much better later on, honest guv" are unacceptable. I therefore find myself rewriting the beginning, or even trying to tack on a more exciting first chapter. Is this how most prologues are born, I wonder? Stuck on as an afterthought, in a clumsy attempt to grab the reader's attention?

I suppose my question is this: are prologues (generally) a sign of poor planning and a cheap attention-grabbing gimmick, or do they have a place in a well-crafted novel?

Regards,

Nigel

I don't think it would be fair to label a story which has a prologue as poor planning. I can only speak for myself when I say that when I write I don't do it with the mind set that the first pages I write will be the first chapter. I have a story 'Sins of a Father' which hasn't been set up in chapters because I'm dealing with flashbacks as well as present time scenarios. My prologue is a flashback but as important as I feel the information in this prologue is, it has been suggested to me that it takes out some of the mystery of what is still to come in the story so I may reconsider this - but that's the only reason. I don't think you'd be doing the story justice by not continuing with it just because the first chapter isn't gripping. Stories develop with time and most often what you started with is a completely different end product. So I would say persevere with a story regardless of how ungripping the first page or chapter is - that can all be changed/added to/taken from etc at a later date but that doesn't mean that that is poor planning.

Just my opinion though.

Hi Nigel

I think the prologue definitely has an interesting history, and a place in some novels. If it's being used as a tack on or a gimmick, I think there's already a problem to be honest...

Just as in drama, the prologue tends to be a form of introduction to a setting/idea that doesn't flow into a next chapter. It shouldn't be the start of the main story so much as a kind of laying down of the history. So, for example, it might be a small instance of something that happened 3 months/ 3 years/ 3 centuries before/after chapter one opens, but something that carries information the reader will still have mind when it's needed, without having to break the flow of the novel to establish the facts.

That's the basics. I've seen some really clever things done with them, having said that. And some that spoil the crux of the plot because as soon as you start asking why they're there you know what's coming next...
Might be another case of horses for courses.

As far as that 40K stumbling block goes...

a) to get to 40k you're doing really well, and should feel a certain amount of pride at having the dedication to get that far.

b) There is a lot of pressure on the opening chapters, not just because of the submission procedure but because a lot of readers won't stick with something if they don't enjoy the beginning of it...
Not sure how helpful this is, but just in case...

On being asked how to write the perfect essay, one lecturer replied that the best essays started where most finish. She hated the fact that you'd get towards a conclusion, then the original ideas and exciting thoughts would start coming out. She suggested writing, then taking the conclusion, making it the introduction and starting again.

A bit extreme, perhaps. But what she was basically saying was "grab me." The introduction to an essay, in the same way as the opening to any pice of writing, needs to say what it's actually doing, where it's going, and why you should want to go there with it. The explanations, the nitty gritty of it, can all come afterwards. I think this is how a prologue can often work in your favour, in that it can provide the punch, then you can backtrack into the build up...

I'm not an expert, but that's an idea I cling to when I'm trying to start the writing ball rolling...

Hope some of this helps

All the best with it

Huggs

Ralph

A Prologue should not be thrown in at the last minute to try and jazz up an otherwise dull start.

I think a Prologue is valid if it relates to the rest of the book, especially in unsuspecting ways. It can set up some historical or contemporary event that enables the reader to prepare themselves mentally for what happens within the main body of the book.

How the writer refers back to the action in the Prologue during the rest of the novel can be as subtle as they like. The job of the Prologue is to establish some common ground and act as a reference point between author and reader for the subsequent storyline.

That first phase, what I call ‘spew-writing’, is wonderful, isn’t it. It all flows so easily you think it’s never going to stop.

I find that the best plan is to get it out of my head and onto my laptop. Then, when the flow slows to a trickle, as it inevitably does, I go back and shave off the worst of the rough edges. At this point I have no fixed idea where this will end up in the novel. Very rarely does it become the opening chapters.

Don’t confuse this stage with whether or not you feel the need for a prologue. Just get it down and build up the novel around it.

Dee.

Don't stick a prologue in later because you want to jazz up the start, write the piece with the prologue there from when you first think about the story. As Ralph said, it should form an introduction to the storyline or backstory for the characters that would be out of place in the main part of the story. For example, in my current novel,I wrote a prologue because I wanted to show the catalyst for the action of the story and provide some important information for the reader. This didn't fit in with the rest, so a prologue was the solution.

Cas