![]() ![]() Invariably they're critical to the story. They can facilitate a jump in time, a different narrative voice, lots of things. The point about the Tour de France prologue is this: it's shorter than the other stages, or chapters, or whatever you want to call them. That's scary, man … scary!ĭoes anyone watch the Tour de France? You know, Lance Armstrong? The bike race? That has a prologue, and it counts, and if riders don't participate in this prologue, well, they'd be illegible for the rest of the race. Do those readers who skip the prologues skip the epilogues as well? Jeez. Like any good art, it's a question of balance. How can you have an epilogue and not have a prologue. I think you just need to make sure it’s as important to the story as every chapter you’re writing and not something you’re doing because it’s easier than the alternative.Īs this discussion has only mentioned prologues (and not epilogues) I have to conclude that there is some semantic confusion going on that many people are talking about 'introductions.' Yes? How come no mention of epilogues? The two go hand-in-hand. I don’t think there’s a hard-and-fast rule for or against prologues. Thriller writers, for example, love a prologue that introduces the killer making a kill. Lazy for the reason I already stated predictable because I see the same prologue over and over. I think prologues can often be predictable and lazy. Let’s face it, it’s a lot easier to write a scene than to slowly unravel the information through the main plotline. The truth is that many writers use a prologue as a convenient way to introduce backstory without doing the work it takes to weave it into the book. Frankly, I never had much of an opinion about the prologue until I started talking to other agents about them and reading some of them more carefully. Well, I can tell you from conversations with colleagues that many agents hate them. You may have addressed this question already, but I couldn’t find prologues listed on the “Labels” section of the blog. I am leaning towards one for a novel I am starting, but if they are a current no-no in the publishing world, then I don’t want to sabotage myself immediately. How do you feel about prologues? I’ve read arguments for and against them, but I’ve not seen the issue from an agent’s POV.
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