From the Mailbox
Kathleen Bolton on Jun 29 2009 | Filed under: From the Mailbox
Ken sent us the following question:
“What’s the difference between a prologue, a foreword and a preface? Also, I’ve heard that fiction writers should avoid prologues and incorporate it into the backstory. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.”
Great question, Ken.
Prologues, I’ll tackle in a minute as there is a bit of disagreement over a prologue’s usefulness in fiction.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t have an easy answer for the difference between a foreword and a preface, but Google came to my rescue and I found a handy cheat-sheet at writersandeditors.com. I’ll steal from them thusly:
The foreword, says the Chicago Manual of Style, is usually written by someone other than the author or editor, usually someone eminent (to lend credibility to the book), and although the title page may say “Foreword by X,” if the foreword is only one or two pages (which is normal), the name of the foreword writer normally appears at the end of the foreword.
A preface, according to writersandeditors:
[Talks] about how you came to write the book, especially if that will help draw the reader into the book. Perhaps best in the preface.
•To sell the book to the potential reader/buyer (lure them, hook them, make them want to read more). In the case of Ruth Selig writing about the death of her twin, providing the personal details up front would be important, for example).
•To answer the question: why this book? why now? why this person? why by this author?
•To talk about how you got the information — what main sources (and how they differ from other books on the subject, if this is book #189 on the Kennedys, for example)
•To provide a framework for what’s to follow — the hooks on which to hang the pegs of story details
•To provide, in brief, your main argument or point of view about the subject. The alternative is not to express your position clearly up front and to weave it into the fabric of the biography so that the reader has to read the book to find it. Critics may object to this. My impression is that you want to suggest your conclusions or viewpoint up front but express them more fully and strongly in the concluding chapter, if there are conclusions to be made.
Now for prologues.
Let me state for the record that in theory, I believe that 50% of prologues in fiction are unnecessary and could have been incorporated into the narrative just as easily and without the danger of having the reader skip the chapter to get to the story. But I also adore them and have found the juiciest hooks at the beginning of a prologue.
Marg McAllister provides a handy definition of a prologue:
A prologue should reveal significant facts that contribute to our understanding of the plot. It should be vivid and entertaining in its own right (who wants to read a boring prologue, no matter how much of the background it explains?) It should make us want to read on.
She also offers a handy cheat sheet for writers deciding if they need a prologue at all:
- What if I just call the prologue Chapter 1? Will the story flow smoothly from that point anyway? (If the answer is “yes”, ditch the prologue.)
- Do I need to give the readers a fair bit of background information for the story to make sense? (If “yes”, the consider doing it in a prologue before the ‘real’ story starts.)
- Am I thinking of using a prologue just to hook the reader? (If “yes”, then ask yourself why you can’t do this just as effectively in Chapter 1 anyway. Do you need to brush up on your technique for creating suspense and conflict? Does your plot need revising? Are you starting your story too early?)
In other words, decide if you really really need a prologue first before committing to one. Some editors do not dig them at all, and I’ve heard that agents aren’t super keen on them either. If you can get away with starting your story at Chapter 1 instead of Prologue, then do it.
But I still love them.
Thanks for sending in the question, Ken!
What do you think about prologues? Love them, or loathe them?
Kathleen Bolton
Therese Walsh
Ann Aguirre
Porter Anderson
Brunonia Barry
Carleen Brice
Sarah Callender
Keith Cronin
Anna Elliott
Jane Friedman
Robin LaFevers
Donald Maass
Juliet Marillier
Sophie Masson
Jael McHenry
Jan O'Hara
Debbie Ohi
Barbara O'Neal
Crystal Patriarche
Ray Rhamey
M.J. Rose
Chuck Sambuchino
John Vorhaus
Yuvi Zalkow
Sharon Bially
Anne Greenwood Brown
Tracy Hahn-Burkett
Suzannah Windsor Freeman
Kristan Hoffman
Jeanne Kisacky
Erika Robuck
Lydia Sharp
I think prologues, when done correctly, are great! You can provide that bit of background needed or that cliffhanger hook in just a few short sentences if you’d like, and then (hopefully!) the reader won’t be able to NOT turn the page!
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I often like it when an author presents a snippet from the middle of the book as a prologue. For example, there was a paragraph at the start of Marian Keyes’ ANYBODY OUT THERE? that contained an imagine of the MC receiving a photo in the mail and “everything changed.” I don’t want to give the book’s surprise away, but at first I interpreted this one way and finally as something totally different. It was mysterious enough to intrigue me, and it cued me in for a revelation to come, which increased the tension as I read.
Is this actually called a prologue, or is there a different name for this device?
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I know we could probably debate Stephenie Meyer’s ability as a writer until the cows come home, but I found her use of “prologues” to be very effective. She did more or less what Maya talks about: presenting a snippet from the middle of the book (really, from the climax) as a prologue, in order to hook a reader with suspense and some mystery, and then when that part shows up again in the story, you find out there’s a little more to it than you thought. I’m trying that out myself in a new novel, and whether or not it stays, it actually helps motivate me as the writer because I keep rereading it when I start new for the day, and it’s like, “Omg yeah, that’s what I want to get to! I can’t wait!”
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I use prologues to present a scene, especially when there is no specific action or dialog taking place. Often these pieces are useful background, important to the story, and not always available to tell as part of the story. Most of my ‘descriptive prose’ is from the POV of the character perceiving it, so prologues are one of the few cases where I-the-author am speaking.
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I think that the bottom line is that if the voice and story in a prologue is compelling–makes you turn the page–then go for it. Whatever works to hook the reader. . .as long, that is, that the narrative follows delivers on what the prologue promises.
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I love them when they are well written and loathe them when they reveal too much in the hopes of drawing the readers in.
Another helpful, informative post, Kathleen! Thank you!
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This is another case of when “da rules” don’t mean a lot when writers are making artistic choices. A good prologue can also save on big info dumps later in the narrative.
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I haven’t read many prologues that I thought were necessary, and would try to avoid them myself, but I can see their usefulness in some situations.
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I think that sometimes prologues are uneccessary, but other times they can really set the mood or sell me on a book. For instance, before Twilight became a major craze I picked it up and was hooked from the prologue alone. Even now, I can tell potential customers (I work in a bookstore) that if they arent interested in reading on after reading the prologue, then I wont push it. 9/10 times they buy the book, so sometimes the prologue can come in handy!
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It seems like everybody’s writing about prologues this week. Editorial Anonymous wrote one a few days ago, and I just wrote a blog entry analyzing a prologue that I really liked.
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