Once again, sorry for the lateness of my posting of this. I'm still working out issues with my time schedule and my revisions as a whole, so this week I have no chapter for you. Instead, enjoy this look at prologues and the proper use for them. Rest assured, what was cut does make it into the book, so you're not missing too much.
Kernel of Insight: The Cut Prologue
So, a while
back I toyed with the idea of including a prologue with this series. Typically, a prologue focuses on either A)
things that you don't need to enjoy the series but which can add some good
depth to characters or some interesting tidbits, as is often the case with
issue 0 of a comic book or B) to set up a framing device that will guide a
series or a story throughout. I toyed
with the idea of the second, but created one for the first.
The first
story was going to be a look back at Mina's childhood before we got to know
her. When she was still around 6 years
old, fresh faced, living with her parents, before they died, it was meant to
set up certain plot points, such as her hatred of liches, her trepidation towards
fire, and a general painting of Agni as the bad guy. However, after I got to a certain point in my
draft, I realized...it wasn't really needed.
Mina had enough character through her introduction that we didn't need
to get to know her to be attached and there were enough good dialogue cues that
we could get across the horror, the sadness, and the lingering doubts and
regrets within her without devoting a full 20 pages or what have you. However, I did like what I had done with the
atmosphere, characters, and what have you in the prologue. So, it was ultimately reintegrated into a
later chapter which acted as a pseudo exposition dump and a flash back series.
Now, will
the chapter all these tidbits were included in actually be a part of this
series or will it too be cut because it doesn't flow properly? Honestly, I couldn't tell you right now. Either way though, there won't be a
prologue. I don't think the story needs
it and if your story doesn't need something, it's usually better to cut it than
force it where it doesn't belong.
Along that
same note, I've also debated the idea of including epilogues. Like far too many video game designers and
writers, I do love teasing because I want to continue the story. I've got 4-5 books worth of material that I'd
love to put out and sometimes an epilogue is appropriate for a tease if you've
gotten a contract or what have you. But
ultimately, it is still a tease and nothing substantial. What I want...what I hope to do is to create
a story that, if I only get the one published, that's enough. A story that will have enough detail and
character that people will want to revisit it, but won't feel like they have to
or else their head will explode. And
that's hard to do. It's hard to balance
a one and done story with the idea of a continuous plot line. Eventually, some things are going to have to
remain unresolved or else there will be little to continue the plot along. Granted, there are ways around those rules,
but still...
Ultimately,
I've become a little down on prologues and epilogues, mostly because they're a
fancy way of adding in another chapter without calling it a chapter and
possibly cheating with the narrative design.
Sometimes people will just excuse an epilogue that focuses on a totally
different character from our main one because it sets up the next part of the
story or what have you. While this can
be useful, I tend to want to shy away from it these days.
That being
said, I do approve of the logues in a certain situation. Namely, the idea of making something that is
not necessary to the story, but which acts as either a good hook or
introduction and is interesting. I'm not
really certain leaving things where I left them in my prologue would have worked
as a good hook, especially since it would have involved a time skip. However, a friend of mine basically put a
prologue in a work of hers which focused on sword making and a tragedy that
goes unseen. This gives us a nice
introduction to the time period, as it is a fictitious historical drama, it
introduces a few important characters, and doesn't really end on a downer or a
large skip. Yes, there is tragedy,
however it's subtle. It's not overt. It plays to the imagination. These I tend to be okay with.
I could
probably whip up a decent prologue or epilogue if I wanted, but...I really
don't want to. I've created a few
excerpts from a fictitious book that exists in my story which give a few
insights into how the universe was made and also about the history of the world
which isn't elaborated on too much.
These I might include because they're a bit more subtle and fun, but
aren't necessary to enjoy the story as it is now.
That's the
big thing with a story...if a prologue is absolutely necessary, why not simply
make it chapter 1? There are reasons
these things are divided. Framing,
certainly, but otherwise, why not start it off as chapter 1? If you're not going to do something
interesting or make it unnecessary but still a fun read, why even bother
calling it a prologue or an epilogue?
Honestly, I couldn't tell you.
Writers sometimes get a wild hare up their butt and want to try and be
dramatic or frame the story in a specific way when it really doesn't need it.
Some of the
best prologues I have seen are totally unnecessary, but make for fun
satire. Terry Pratchett is king at this,
as each prologue introduces the concept of the discworld in any of his
discworld books, but doesn't dwell on it.
It doesn't necessarily have that grand an impact on the plot, but it's a
nice nod to continuity, it's a nice bit of world building, and it's funny,
above all else. That's how you do a
prologue. Make it unnecessary, but
dammit, you wanna read it anyway!
So,
prologues...I don't know as much about them as I may say. Or epilogues for that matter. When they got started, what their purpose was
for, etc. I'm not claiming to be an
expert here. These are just my thoughts
on the issues as a writer and a person.
If you're gonna include it, do something fun/interesting.
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