Prologues, what's in yours?

[Flag Pole Sitta]

Originally Posted by Hawke

I am having a similar problem with prologues...halfway through my first chapter I have a character "flashback" to explain the current state of the Kingdom and why it is such a dangerous place to live...but it just looks out of place, I was considering expanding the flashback and making it a full prologue, which would give me a chance to introduce the main antagonist of the story as well as a few other minor characters (it's set about 30 years before the main story)

What do you guys (and gals) think?

I always think it's most natural to have the characters talk about the state of the world with each other to allow the reader to know that way and so it's just part of normal narration. But many good books are written with the history as the prolog (or whatever). I'm not so crazy about the flashback in the middle of the chapter, unless well done it would be very disruptive, and if it's a flashback it might as well be it's own chapter. But if you're a good writer you can get away with anything, look at James Joyce.

[Giovanna Clairval]

Originally Posted by Flag Pole Sitta

But if you're a good writer you can get away with anything, look at James Joyce.

*sighs*

This is so true...

The idea of putting flashbacks into ad hoc chapters is not such hard a thing to implement.


I think that what helps is finding a thread (a detail, a theme) that links to the main storyline. That's what I did when I had enourmus chunks of story situated a long time before, these chunks being necessary to understand the main story.

[Anthony G Williams]

The disadvantage of putting a substantial flashback within the main story is that it disrupts the flow of the tale. I like a continuous narrative which grips the readers and takes them along, unwilling to put the book down.

If you have a lot of background to fill in, it can be done by alternating chapters to allow two parallel stories to develop (now and then), but I'm a bit dubious about that approach.

So yes, I think I'd prefer a prologue in that situation, although it's difficult to judge without reading it: the principle matters less than the execution of it.

[Hawke]

Well basically the guy is sitting at the bar of an inn, and there is an offhand remark about the kingdom being a much more dangerous place to live in and travel in....then the character has a flashback to explain why....

[WriterDoug]

But if you're a good writer you can get away with anything, look at James Joyce.

Ah, good old JJ! He's so brilliant that I hate him.

My professors always told me that if I ever wish to obtain my PhD in English, I will be required to read both Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake, both of which are lovingly dubbed by the department as two of the most difficult and frustrating novels in the English language to read.



Cheers,
WD

[Giovanna Clairval]

Originally Posted by Anthony G Williams

If you have a lot of background to fill in, it can be done by alternating chapters to allow two parallel stories to develop (now and then), but I'm a bit dubious about that approach.

I do agree with you.

In my novel, there are three storylines, each narrated by a different character. One of these storylines occurs in a time that precedes the others. It's like a prequel, if you like, with a different voice, a plot and a conclusion.

This is not at all the definition of "flashback". In a flashback, the character thinks back to what happened. Of course it can be done, but, in my novel, it didn't serve the plot. What I did was giving the reader information that the other two narrators (the three are written in the first person) have not.
At the end, one of the three makes a terrible mistake because she didn't know what had really happened. At one moment, she has the same information... crisis.
If I had put the info-dump just like that, it would have been really boring.
In that way, I dramatised it.

So, I shouldn't have used the word "flashback" in my post.

[Flag Pole Sitta]

Originally Posted by WriterDoug

Ah, good old JJ! He's so brilliant that I hate him.

Indeed. Though sometimes I wonder about his reputed brilliance. Would quotation marks really detract from the artistic qualities of the book?

Originally Posted by WriterDoug

My professors always told me that if I ever wish to obtain my PhD in English, I will be required to read both Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake, both of which are lovingly dubbed by the department as two of the most difficult and frustrating novels in the English language to read.



Cheers,
WD

Good luck with the degree. I rather liked Ulysses. I thought it was funny, and defiantly complicated. It reminded me of Catch 22. (Am I weird? The humor is similar.)

[Michael01]

Originally Posted by Mary Hoffman

I wouldn't bother writing anything that people weren't going to read! If they can't be bothered to read Prologues they'll miss all sorts of clues and other good stuff.

Mary

Hear! Hear! My sentiments exactly. I always read prologues myself. Why would anyone who actually enjoys reading want to skip any part of a story?