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Wed Aug 07, 2013 12:31 am
WritersCanDream77 says...



Hi :)

I need some help organizing some things.

I don't know how to start! I guess, first off I have to tell you I'm writing a story (which I'm currently posting here) in Microsoft Word, and I've already written most of the prologue. But last night I was re-reading what I had wrote so far and I realized it was way too long! I'm scared the prologue is too long and it will draw away the readers, but I can't end it early because there is just too much information I have to say.

What do I do?
  





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Wed Aug 07, 2013 1:40 am
EloquentDragon says...



Hmmm well...

If there's a lot of info in the prologue it might mean that you shouldn't have a prologue. What I mean is this: is what happens in the prologue more important than chapter one? Maybe you should start your story then.

If that's not the case, then maybe you just need to revise or condense. Sometimes, (well, most of the time) most of the info given in the prologue could be considered "backstory." That's the stuff you want to save/keep to yourself as an author. Don't spill your guts to the reader on page one, use a slow revelation of details to keep things suspenseful and riveting.

Most importantly though, don't worry about length too much just yet. This is your first draft, after all. There will always be draft two and three and...

Hope this helps. And welcome!
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Wed Aug 07, 2013 2:57 am
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Rosendorn says...



How long is "too long"? Some prologues are three-four pages (see George R. R. Martin) and are just fine.

When you write a prologue, consider this:

1- A prologue must have information you cannot get in the story naturally.

Take the quintessential prologue we all know and love: Beauty and the Beast's stained glass. Would we have found out about the importance of the Rose, the fact he had once been human, and the Curse without that prologue? If you wanted to keep everyone in character, not particularly. It would've been difficult to get us all the details without breaking character, and they would've been extra details in the story that slowed it down.

By putting that tale into a prologue in and of itself, you can keep the story moving forward. Which leads me to:

2- The prologue must be self contained.

Prologues are basically introductory short stories. They need a beginning, middle and end. They must have some sense of finality. Beauty and the Beast had the last line, "And who could ever learn to love a Beast?"

It might've been answered immediately by the jump cut to Belle, but in and of itself the prologue told a story that could've ended a tragedy, or at least bittersweet.

3- A prologue must be interesting and relevant.

Goes without saying, but you really have to create something that gets us interested in that short story continuing. It has to tie into the story, and has to tie into the story quickly. "Who could ever learn to love a Beast?" is answered immediately, so the next question is "when will Belle meet the Beast?" There is a relevancy because the first character shown is Belle. The prologue is self contained yet also flows into the story, and we are left to wonder when the prologue will play a heavier hand into the story.

It must be interesting enough we are willing to wait a potentially very long time. The story basically has to pick up immediately, so readers get some taste of how the prologue and main story interlay, but becoming swept away with a new story at the same time. There will be the nagging piece of information in the back of our minds after we read, and you have to make it worth it.

If your prologue doesn't fit the above criteria, then scrap it and work the information into your story more naturally. If that can't be done, then find a way to work it into a story that isn't a pure info dump. You really need to turn it into a story to hit criteria 2 and 3.

And a huge don't of prologues: If the prologue gives information that kills the tension of the first line, then you really need to work on the whole thing. This can be something like explaining the origins of a character in the prologue, then expecting the early tension being a mystery around the character's origins... that doesn't work. This, btw, was a published novel.

Another one is the good old "Don't". Because 90% of prologues fail. They can fit the criteria, but if you're doing a prologue because you have to have a prologue, or if you really don't want to try and work that information in, or you're trying to make it "epic" and all epics must have prologues... don't. Prologues need to be treated with a ton of respect and purposely inserted, just like anything else.

Hope this helps.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Tue Aug 13, 2013 12:19 pm
Tenyo says...



Heed the words of the wise.

Then post it on the forums, and send me a link.

It might be too long for a variety of reasons. It might even be too short or incomplete. The easiest way to get thorough feedback is to be brave and share it =]
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