Blogging agent Nathan Bransford published a post a couple days back on prologues that I found interesting. He doesn’t object to stories that use prologues, but I’ve seen where other agents vehemently object to material beginning with a prologue. In fact, I even axed my prologue in writing my first work simply because I didn’t want to hoist a red flag to any prologue hating readers.
Most of the time, the prologue opponents’ logic includes statements such as, “If it’s relevant to the book then it can go in chapter 1.” Seemingly, some agents think a prologue amateurish, as though it should be beneath a ‘real’ writer. Oh my!
I suppose prologues follow the authoring rule that is not a rule: If you write well, it doesn’t matter. If you don’t, then it does. I actually enjoy a good prologue, will likely write a book in the future containing one, and I’ll even confess to LOVING the leisurely, over-informant epilogue. What about you?
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My favorite book is Les Misérables... that should say it all about both the prologue and the "leisurely, over-informant epilogue" I love them!
ReplyDeletePrologue's are starting to feel old fashioned.
ReplyDeleteHi Marty - My brother-in-law's favorite book is Les Miserables, too. I'm a big fan as well, I suppose. I think I've probably read it 3 times, and it is a seriously long, long read.
ReplyDeleteHi Archavist - Do you say prologues are starting to feel old fashioned because they have been overused? Or, is it because you see a trend where the more cutting edge authors no longer use them? Hmm ... I'll have to keep an open eye out for this.
ReplyDeleteMy last WIP really screamed for a prologue, so I gave it one and never considered removing it.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm thinking about one for my current WIP.
:)