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The Prologue

Griffinkeeper · 2005-06-14T01:12:27Z

If writing a bad prologue was a disease, I'd say that this forum was in the midst of an epidemic. Fortunately for everyone, I have the cure, which is this post. Many people may not know what a prologue is. Here is the definition according to Dictionary.com. pro·logue also pro·log n. 1. An introduction or preface, especially a poem recited to introduce a play. 2. An introduction or introductory chapter, as to a novel. 3. An introductory act, event, or period. Many people have confused the prologue with Chapter One. This isn't too difficult, because the prologue and the first chapter both can introduce the main plot and character. The biggest difference is that the prologue introduces the background ideas behind the story. The first chapter doesn't; it is dedicated exclusively to introducing the character and the setting. The prologue is also set before chapter one. If it isn't, than you don't have a prologue. Let's look at the neat ways a prologue can be used. The first way it can be used is to set a location, more commonly the world you are working in. The default example for fantasy stories is this: Once upon a time in a land far far away... You can continue to establish the world from there, perhaps by describing the land and the castle. The second thing it can do is describe the circumstances surrounding a character. In Lord of the Rings, it gives us the story of the ring of power and how it ended up with Bilbo. This is fairly common when you have introduced the world in a prequel, or some other book. The third thing is to introduce a conflict. This is particularly useful when your story takes place in the middle of a conflict. The War between X and Y was at a stalemate, each side unable to gain an advantage over the other. X command decided on an offensive across the mountains. To do so, they would need to destroy several defensive fortifications... and so on and so forth. Finally, you can use it to foreshadow something that will happen, perhaps by mentioning something seemingly unrelated to the initial story that hints at a deeper story. This is a more clever approach and should probably be reserved for people that have already outlined their story. Here is a list of things that I've seen. Case 1: Authors Notes IC: If your playing the part of a narrator, or making it seem like a character is writing the book, you can write a prologue. As long as the events take place in the third person. Case 2: Flashbacks: These are used often for prologues, but they aren't prologues. Flashbacks always "fast-forward" to the present. A prologue is almost always in the past tense. This is because it happens before the story. Having it go from the past to the present defeats the purpose of the prologue. With this short post, you are now able to heal yourself from this epidemic that has inflicted this site. Assuming, of course, that you take this to heart.