First, I want to apologize to anyone that received a notification that I had added a post yesterday…it was an accident and caused entirely by human error.
I wasnt planning on posting anything until after the first of february. At this moment I should be preparing Lost for my editor. Unfortunately (or fortunately if you find this amusing or informational ), I became sidetracked after having a conversation with a small group of authors. The topic of discussion was prologues and whether or not you should include them in your novel.
Almost all of them had the opinion that you should never have a prologue. Their reasoning – they believe that the majority of readers skip the prologue.
(gasp)
A prologue is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information.
And there are certainly good arguments both for and against them…
Author KristenLamb – The Seven Deadly Sins Of Prologues
helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com – Skip The Prologue
helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com – When Not To Skip The Prologue
Anyway, This conversation prompted me to start a brief poll on twitter:
– How often do you #read prologues –
67% Always -or- Almost always
22% Roughly 50% of them
I don’t believe I have ever skipped a prologue…
(And this is only my opinion…) In the end as an author, it is up to you to decide the best way to tell your story. Afterall, you are the only person that knows every detail about the people, places and things in your manuscript. Are you confident that whomever reads your prologue will turn to chapter one with a better understanding of the world in which your character’s live?
For reader’s, I suppose it boils down to a form of trust. Do your readers have enough faith in you and your writing to believe that your prologue is a necessary part of the storyline? That it is in fact something worth reading and not just some form of info dump. They must believe that all the information is in fact vital, and given with the sole purpose of benefiting them as they begin their reading journey.
Now as I mentioned before, I do not believe I have ever skipped a prologue but I do generally fly past all the rest of the front matter. Admittedly, I only read the author bio about ten percent of the time, even if I loved the story. But I think this is the case for most readers, possibly with the exception of reviewers.
Do you skip prologues, epilogues, or afterwords?
Common Parts of a Book
Front Matter
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Acknowledgments
- Dedication
- Table of Contents
- Foreword (if included – usually written by someone other than the author)
- Prologue
Body Matter
- Parts – Sections – Chapters
End Matter
- Epilogue / Afterward
- Glossary (if included)
- Index (if included)
Also just wanted to note: Today (18th January, 2018) is… Thesaurus Day! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/thesaurus-day/ … via @daysoftheyear #Thesaurusday
Giveaway:
The Underworld is the sequel to The Fallen Star.
Gemma thought her mind was gone, but she was wrong. And now she is left trying to figure out the truth to what Stephan is planning to do with her and the star, before it’s too late.
But finding out the truth is hard, especially since Gemma doesn’t know who she can trust. There may be only one person who Gemma can turn to for answers, but that means having to go to the one place no one wants to go—The Underworld.
You can enter the Giveaway here:
See this #AmazonGiveaway for a chance to win: The Underworld (Fallen Star Book 2) (Kindle Edition). https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/ff617711d2ac3b6e NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Ends the earlier of Jan 25, 2018 11:59 PM PST, or when all prizes are claimed. See Official Rules http://amzn.to/GArules.
