Prologues?

Mmmm... this site is full of them. I don't like them too much and usually skip them, published or not. Perhaps I'm in the minority.

Why do you guys love/hate prologues? Why would you use them?

Discuss!

Sometimes I think they can be useful for drama; that is, the introduction of something that the reader could sense as an upcoming conflict. For example, in Davi Gemmel's Legend (the only book I can think of with a prologue) he has an ambassador trying to negotiate a peace treaty, only to be killed. So then you know something bad is going to happen after that.

A sense of foreboding perhaps?

I also hate prologues and have only used it once in all of my writings.

For Queen of the Harpies I used it to explain who Fred was and why Brenna would be willing to leave her own world to go after him.

I like prologues depending on thier use. I was always taught to use them for something that happened before the story, like, oooo *thinks of an example* so, if there was a incident in another place, or a few years before the main story begins, I would use the prolouge for that. Thinking of me, I used it to describe how one of my characters was first found in the desert, and then when I came to chapter one, it was some five years after that, but it was an event that shapes the rest of what happens.

Prolouges I hate are ones that just fill in the background infomation of what's going on and use lots of words. Like Anne McCaffrey. I like her books, but the prolouge just descrobes how people ended up on the planet and they gives a description of the history of what's happened on the planet.

None of which has any relevance at all.

I've never written a prologue in my life, but I'm planning on having one for my NaNo. I don't much like prologues either: I tend to just skim through them, unless they actually tell a story, like in Myth's Queen of the Harpies. But we'll see how it goes, eh?

I don't mind them. I tend to use them sometimes, depending if I think they'd benefit.

Sometimes you just need something that occured before the story actually started explained as it happens. Particularly if you see no way that the characters are going to be able to explain it to the readers (since they probably won't find out all the details themselves), really don't want to dump a huge load of info half way through the story, and a flashback would be inappropriate. If you see what I mean. That's the reason for the prologue for my upcoming NaNo.

I think Jack's got some good points about drama.

I really don't have anything against them. ALthough the ones that don't make sense until you've actually read the book can be rather annoying.

Not trying to be argumentive, but I am curious, so ...

How can you hate a prologue because it's a prologue? Isn't it basically just a chapter that doesn't really fit with the others?

If I called a prologue Chapter 1, would you start reading it and think "that really ought to be a prologue" and not read the rest because it's just a prologue in disguise?

I'd agree with that, El- I'm using one for my NaNo just because it doesn't fit in with the rest of the story (it tells the story of the narrator).

Drama is good, but only if it has relevance or symbolism with the rest of the story.

definitely in drama.... you can use them there really effectively.... they can go on a bit though can't they...... hmmm
*flees*

I'm not sure whether I like prologues or not. I use them, though.

In my estimation, (I am BY NO MEANS an expert!) Prologues are a legal place for information dumps and bits that don't fit in with the book, as practically EVERYBODY has already said.

Say, if you want to start off your book with an enormous bang, but need to establish some things first, (Which may lower the speed of the big scene,) you can explain everything in the prologue, without needing to explain during or after it. Exposition weighs you down something terrible sometimes.
I've the odd habit of making my prologues into poetry.

I like prologues, especially when they include symbolic language or poetry, but I really hate them when they are massive information dumps. I like them much better when they are coupled with a first chapter and not left to stand alone.
Most of the time, I use them to create a mood before the story, or to be symbolic of a major dichotomy within the story itself. Prologues are fun.

Sometimes i like them but i dont use them. I think They're good if the story really needs background info for the eader to understand whats happening.

Haha. I don't really like reading them unless the pages are numbered for them (something about accomplishing something while reading it), but I usually skip them. However, I love to write them.

Does that make me a hypocrit? *nods*

I'm done with prologues! Writing them anyway. Reading them can be arduous as well.

I'm done with trying for the almighty novel for a while in any case. I'm focusing on short stories mostly now, so prologues are rarely an issue.

It depends on the type of prologue. One on hand, you have the prologue to The Lord of the Rings, which is about a million miles long and contains no important plot information, as far as I can see. Those, I skip.
On the other hand, there's the prologue to Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, which is short [s]and sweet[/s] and helps set up where the story is going in only a page or three. Those, I read.