Prologues and Epilogues

[queenjaneapprxmtly]

I like prologues, for the most part. I have one for one of my three novels that I'm working on (yes, three, lol), and it really kind of sets the stage for the whole story without giving too much away. I mean, by reading it, you get an idea of what's going on or what could happen, but at the same time it's still kind of subtle, if that makes sense.

So, I like them, because I think they can really give a lot of insight into the story, and if they're really good, they can pull you in and make you want to read the story even more than you had before you'd picked it up off the shelf or clicked on it or whatever.

Epilogues ... eh, they're okay. I don't mind them, but I'd rather be left wondering. It gives you a lot of room to kind of make up your own ending or create an alternate ending in your mind or something like that. They're quite good in some stories, though. I mean, even with an epilogue, you could still be left wondering, depending on what it tells you. And like I said, I don't mind them, but for the most part, I'd rather read something without one. :)

[st.elmo-lover]

I like them both if they actually have meaning. Like if they actually tell the reader something they need to know before or after reading the story. Then I'm all for them. But if not, then there just a waste of time for the reader and the writer.

[Masquerade]

Good question!
Prologues--I like them most of the time. They can get you hooked right away, make you really want to keep reading. And in some books I've read that are in third person, the prologue will be in first person, so then you just get a little chance to get inside their head for a bit, which is cool. And they can explain what's going on, like the conflict, if the story just starts into the action right away or whatever.

Epilogues--depends on the story. I'm actually more of a person who likes to have all the loose ends tied up at the end of a story, rather than not be told what happens to everyone and have to wonder about it. For example, in A Series of Unfortunate Events, in the last book, it just ends and there are dozens of unanswered questions, which really bothered me. But that's just an example.

I like epilogues that tell you what happened further down the road, not just immediately after the story. But yeah, that's just 'cause I like everyone to live happily ever after, lol.
But then again, everything could be nicely wrapped up without using an epilogue, too...

So like I said, depends on the story.

[fairlane]

I think prologues are a good way to show an event in story form, rather than having it explained later on just as "that happened and then that happened..."

Although having a character retell the event in flashback can be good if it's done well - it can also be really annoying if it's not done well.

I am not a fan of epilogues I like endings that are not too well wrapped up.

[zevie]

I like writing them for myself, lol, even if I don't post it. I can't help thinking about it anyway, so it's nice to write them. I usually end up ending in "tragedy" ish, because that's what works, so, I've written epilogues where there's a happy ending. I don't know that I'd post them, cause they'd probably take away from the rest of the story. So, that's my criteria for epilogues/prologues, I guess - if it adds something to the book, besides, obviously, more words, then I like them, but, otherwise, it'll probably take away from the story.

[Tensleep]

Lots of questions...You know that gives me license to babble....

I love prologues and epilogues myself. I write enough of them, let me tell you. My favorite epilogues go at the beginning of the story, though. I love it when you have to work backwards to figure it out. So if I have to prefer one, epilogues done like that.

I find prologues useful in setting up sequels and sometimes just rounding things off before you get too ahead of yourself.

Aside from that, I say use them with caution because not everyone thinks the same.

[latch22]

I like prologues and epilogues, myself. There's very little that I'm not open to in writing. I'm even beginning to warm up to present tense, and those who know me surely know how much I previously detested that.

I think that I prefer prologues. Perhaps I like them because it's a way to set a theme, or a state of mind.

I think that I like not knowing. Sometimes I like knowing, but most of the time... Well, here's one example. Have any of you seen American Graffiti? Well, I thought that the part at the end, where it shows what happened to them all, should have been left out. I didn't like it at all. That was too wrapped up... and the way that they did it was kind of obnoxious and poorly done in general, but still.

I do like epilogues, though.

You know, it's amazing how many ways there are to tell a story.

Cheers!

[queenjaneapprxmtly]

I love American Graffiti! I don't like the epilogue at the end that much, either. If they had just ended it with Curt's plane flying into the distance and left the rest to the imagination, it would have been fine, lol. And it was poorly done, I agree. I think I would have liked it better if they had like ... spent more time on it or something.

Or just left it out in general. 'Cause it was kinda stupid. :p

[fairlane]

I love American Graffiti, but the end just reminds me why I don't like epilogues. There's nothing like an epilogue done like that to smack you over the head and "hey it's only a movie!".

[latch22]

Exactly. The ending would have been great, but that epilogue was just so bad...

Perhaps it's just not as easy as one would think to write a good epilogue--one that looks like it belongs.

Cheers!

[Nittanylizard]

I've been learning recently that unless you're an established author, it's not a good idea to write a prologue for a novel. Anything you were going to put in a prologue is better off scattered within the body of the story, and you just start the story with chapter 1. There are exceptions, but much of the time a prologue comes across as backstory (doesn't belong at the beginning of your novel) or an infodump (even worse ).

Apparently a lot of readers completely skip prologues, and therefore may miss an important aspect of the story. I can't imagine doing that, and never had anything against them, but since I've started paying more attention I have noticed that for my own stories, it works out better to ditch the prologue and feed out the info a little at a time.

[latch22]

I don't usually write prologues, but in my most recent story I found that the first thing that I ended up writing had more of a prologue feel to it. It didn't exactly give a lot of information, but it allowed the character to introduce himself, which I usually don't do but felt was necessary this time--since it's first person and he knew he was telling a story--and it gave you an excellent feel for the character.

So perhaps my understanding of prologues is a bit different. I don't use them to give a lot of information, because I, too, feel that information is best dispersed throughout the story, but I use them, albeit sparingly, more to establish a mood.

Then again, Tale is just the kind of character that warranted a prologue, so maybe I was just giving in to his wishes.

Cheers!

[printandpolish]

Mars, if you wouldn't mind a suggestion, a simple way to do that without giving too much away would be to write the newspaper article about his conviction. Short, sweet, all the info -- ie, "Timothy Shepard, 20, of Tulsa, was convicted yesterday of [this crime] and sentenced to [this time in this place]."

Depending on the crime, that might work.

[zevie]

Or someone reading it to him. I could see someone like Bill having it framed for Tim, lol.

[Nittanylizard]

artemisrex said:

I like the newspaper idea ... only the week day would be used, not yesterday (sorry, a little nit, but I used to get yelled at for that SO MUCH).

It's really funny that you happened to mention this last night, because before I went to bed last night I was reading through one of my newspapers from last week before I tossed it into the recycle bin, and the first sentence of an article on the front page was, "Powerful thunderstorms raked through the Capital Region late this afternoon..."

Though I hadn't even thought about the way Christine had worded her suggestion, that article really stood out to me. Later in the article they mention Wednesday's storm (this was Thursday's paper), but I did wonder why they didn't just say straight off what day it was. I guess they figure it's assumed that it was written the day before, but I'm sure there are people out there going, "Gee, it didn't rain today..."

Oh, and I agree, I think a newspaper article is a good idea. Another possibility would be to start the story in the middle of whatever it is he did wrong, up until the police show up (if it's something quick, like a robbery for example; even if it's more ongoing, you could just start with him getting arrested). Then either start the next chapter with "Seven Years Later", or just start right up in 1975 with Tim getting out of prison and let the year (or the seven years later part) work its way into dialogue, or his thoughts.

Liz