Writing Prologue: yea or nay? TWO: Electric Boogaloo

[Generic.Archdemon]

This has existed before courtesy of @HelloHound. and 1000 people before 'er

Prologue: yea or nay?

Personally I've never been wowed by a prologue because it either takes the wind out of the sails narratively speaking or seems clunky and out-of-place but I love polls so ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

forum.scribblehub.com

But since I am not a Necromancer.

I guess I have to start a new thread

Do you Prologue?

What do ya'll think of them?

 

[SailusGebel]

Nay.

 

[DannyTheDaikon]

I do prologue. Both ways. Skipping it while reading would mean that I may as well start reading every other chapter.
For writing, only when I feel that the story needs it.

 

[Corty]

I even wrote a post about it in my tip thread.

 

[SailusGebel]

Also, I want another option. I do not write prologues, I DO read them, but I rarely find them meaningful and necessary to the story.

 

[MatchaChocolate69]

The first chapter in a web novel is the most important and must be sparkling.
It's the first thing readers encounter, and you need to be able to capture them. If you can do that with a prologue, all the better, but usually, it's condensed infodump. It's better to introduce it later when the reader is invested in the story.
But that's just my humble opinion.

I tend to not write them, but I read them respecting the author's wishes. Very often, they are unnecessary and harmful.

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

Also, I want another option. I do not write prologues, I DO read them, but I rarely find them meaningful and necessary to the story.

There ya go

 

[SailusGebel]

Let me borrow this thread for a second. I have an announcement to everyone who write prologues. Don't talk to me. You all are lower caste, and I don't want to get contaminated with your filth.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

I write and read prologues but only write them when necessary. If I am reading a prologue that doesn't interest me, I usually don't read the story either.

 

[GlassRose]

Wha- I don't understand, prologues introduce the reader to the premise of the story, it should be the hook that gets them to commit to the book, and they often contain an introduction to certain characters and/or the world that without means you miss out on context that without can leave you floundering in the early stages of the story just trying to understand what's going on, perhaps even missing key parts of character backstory that is essential to understanding who they are. Who in their right mind just, skips the prologue? (The answer is no one, if you do this, you're a monster, and insane.)

Maybe not everything needs a prologue, and if it's stuck in when it wasn't needed just because that's the 'standard' then sure, but how the hell are you supposed to know it's that kind of prologue before you actually read the book? Even if the prologue at first seems divested from the main story, it can still become extremely relevant latter on.

There is only two acceptable times to skip past something in a book, and that is if there's a sex scene or a torture scene. Pretty much any other scenario where you would get the urge to skip, and what you should do isn't skip ahead, but just stop reading altogether. Or in this case, apparently just not even start.

 

[beast_regards]

Many writers and readers alike misunderstand what prologue is.

 

[LilRora]

Personally I have nothing against prologues, provided they're well written. I've seen some that were an excellent introduction to the story, some that would be better called the first chapter, and some that only confused me with unnecessary information at the start of the story. And probably some more.

I'm always annoyed when authors try to paint some grand outline for the whole story with the prologue, but that isn't relevant in any way for like thirty chapters afterwards. Completely breaks the order, which should (in majority of cases) start with the small things and gradually move to the larger picture.

I'd say a good prologue should be an introduction to the plot it immediately precedes, ideally if it's directly tied to it instead of just providing background.

I personally don't write prologues, because if I do keep to the criteria above, it barely makes a difference when I just call it the first chapter. A lot of times it doesn't matter.

 

[FatElf]

This has existed before courtesy of @HelloHound. and 1000 people before 'er

Prologue: yea or nay?

Personally I've never been wowed by a prologue because it either takes the wind out of the sails narratively speaking or seems clunky and out-of-place but I love polls so ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

forum.scribblehub.com

But since I am not a Necromancer.

I guess I have to start a new thread

Do you Prologue?

What do ya'll think of them?

Nope.
About reading, I'll check the first or second paragraph. If it is some infodump or introduction or cosmology I just skip it.

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

Who in their right mind just, skips the prologue?

depends, in the case of web novels, sometimes I get to the 3rd line it's just a clone chapter from other books of the same genre. Generally, there is no new information other than "This book adheres to its tropes"

the feels of

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

Let me borrow this thread for a second. I have an announcement to everyone who write prologues. Don't talk to me. You all are lower caste, and I don't want to get contaminated with your filth.

Yep, I'm aware. No need to slap it on my face.

*cue in sounds of betrayal in Quenya...

 

[SailusGebel]

Yep, I'm aware. No need to slap it on my face.

*cue in sounds of betrayal in Quenya...

 

[BlackKnightX]

I don't care. If it's fun, then yes. If boring, then no. This applies to everything else in the story.

 

[Praybird]

As a reader, I find prologues most charming when they're relevant to the first chapter, at least in some way, shape, or form. It's not like I want the two to be perfectly connected in time or anything, but when they showcase the same character, or a character in chapter 1 speaks of events that happened in the prologue, that's when I find them useful and intriguing. It makes me think about why the author put that specific prologue as a prologue; it's fun to learn why that prologue was there, and seeing how it all comes to make sense as the story progresses.

As an author, prologues are (personally) a one-time ticket to display whatever the heck I want without destroying the flow. My prologue and chapter 1 are a thousand years apart, something I would never do between regular chapters (unless I'm writing a story about time travel). But because I was able to do this, I can highlight a key event in the prologue that the rest of the story revolves around.

 

[K5Rakitan]

I would write a prologue if I felt it fit the story, but generally no. I do read them, and if they are just infodumps, I don't read further.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

This has existed before courtesy of @HelloHound. and 1000 people before 'er

Prologue: yea or nay?

Personally I've never been wowed by a prologue because it either takes the wind out of the sails narratively speaking or seems clunky and out-of-place but I love polls so ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

forum.scribblehub.com

But since I am not a Necromancer.

I guess I have to start a new thread

Do you Prologue?

What do ya'll think of them?

i sometimes make them, but when and if i do, I will do them RIGHT. Alot of fuckers just spoil the story. Fucking baits us, Boruto did that, for example. Had us hungry for the scenes in the first chapter/prologue and we waded through many chapters of shit. A prologue is supposed to be a SET UP to events, not a fucking click bait cock tease, goddammit