Editing your Prologue

The Editor

BLOG SESSION

July 2017

Editing your Prologue

Good Morning Writers, Authors, Novelists, Journalists, Poets & Creative Writers of every genre!

We are here today to continue where we left off.  In our last Blog Session we discussed writing our Prologues for our Novels.  Now we are going to go a step further and dive into the topic of Editing your Prologue.

Grab your Journal ~ Here is what you need to know and jot down in your Notes . . .

Journal Notes

First item for your Journal:  Keep your Prologue short and to the point.

A good prologue is usually no more than three to four pages total.  Do read over your draft and trim it down.  Remove any details that are not necessary to the overall story or that lead your story in a direction that you do not care to go.  Keeping your prologue short and to the point will make it more effective and trimming will also ensure that your readers stay engaged enough to move on to Chapter One.

Second item for your Journal:  Keep your pace in your Prologue fast and engaging.

The pace of your prologue should be quick and brisk.  Avoid over explaining anything or giving away too much information to your readers.  You will have your entire Novel to explain.  There is no reason to cram the prologue with information that may fit somewhere else in your Novel.  Keep only the essential details that are needed.

The best way to check the pace of your prologue is to read it out loud to yourself or to your friends and family members.  Mark any run~on sentences or awkward moments in the draft of your prologue, and be sure to work them over until they sound smooth and to the point.

Third item for your Journal:  Take a look at how your prologue fits with the rest of your Novel.

Once you have edited your prologue, you should place it in front of your Chapter One and look at how it fits.  Does it feel like an engaging start?  Does your prologue contain any information that is also in Chapter One?  Does the prologue strengthen your Novel overall? 

Your prologue should be strong enough to stand on its own, separate from your Novel.  Your prologue should almost read like a short story, and it should have a contained story line and a conflict.  However, unlike a short story, the ending of your prologue should remain open.  Your prologue can introduce a conflict that will be resolved or addressed later in your Novel.  You must remember to leave the readers wanting more, thus your prologue should remain open.

Editing your Prologue 

FURTHER PROLOGUE EDITING TIPS:

A prologue is typically only one section.  If you have too much material for your prologue, then insert some of it into the first chapter.

A prologue that is written as a hook can work well if it has just four lines as long as it draws the readers in.  Four lines written well can definitely make for an effective prologue.

Your plot itself should not be a part of your prologue.  Remember, y0ur prologue is a teaser.  Your prologue can reference a major point in your Novel (although it will not be a major plot point yet).  Your prologue can also hint at a character or characters who will eventually shake things up.  In any case, your prologue should not explain a lot of information, and it should not include the main character.

Your prologue can contain two character's points of view as long as it is not too long or too confusing.  You may use headlines with characters' names, or find some other way to differentiate whose point of view (POV) is being given so the readers are not confused.

Enjoy writing and editing your Prologue!

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Until our next Blog Session dear Friends ~

Peace, Love & Light,

René

© Copyright - René Allen - JULY 2017 - All Rights Reserved

Prologue

BLOG SESSION

July 2017

Good Evening Blog Readers, Followers & Visitors ~

We are back for another exciting Blog Session to discuss the topic of the Prologue for your exciting Novel.

What is a Prologue?

A Prologue is what appears at the very beginning of your Novel.  It is a section before the first chapter of your book.  A good prologue will be essential to your Novel.  It is not just a bonus chapter or a stalling tactic on the part of you, as the Writer.  To write an effective prologue for your Novel, you will first need to recognize the purpose of a prologue.  You'll also need to create a prologue (or several) drafts of the prologue and then edit the prologue down so that it is polished and ready for print.

Before you begin to write your prologue, you should first, identify the different uses of a Prologue...

You can use your prologue to provide a backstory.  The backstory can be on a character or several characters.  This will help you, as the Writer, to avoid using other tactics such as flashbacks or an inserted backstory into your Novel.  This option is also useful if you are struggling to cover the details of a character's past within the action of your Novel.

Please Note that many Writers argue against using a prologue as a way to dump a whole bunch of backstory or past information on the readers.  Instead, the backstory used in the prologue should be essential to the rest of the Novel, and it should also contain information that could not be placed anywhere else in the Novel.

If you have a backstory heavy prologue, it should reveal the origin of the quest or mission in the Novel, and it should also provide the reader with information about the past that leads up to the present action in the Novel.

Your backstory could be the history behind an event, like a conflict or a war that is touched on in the Novel or the history of a character who is important to the Novel.

It is important to note that you should have the prologue hook the reader into the rest of the Novel.  Your prologue should be used as an essential hook that will intrigue your readers.  Your prologue should raise compelling questions in the reader's mind.  It should also give the reader a reason to turn the page, as well as set the reader up with questions and/or images that will be addressed in the Novel itself.

Your prologue hook could present a scene that introduces a character or characters, as well as action that becomes very important in the Novel.

Your prologue could also foreshadow what is going to happen and allow your readers to briefly meet one of your characters or several of your characters.

Remember, you can also use your prologue as a way to frame the rest of your Novel.  Many Writers use a prologue as a framing device, where a character is motivated to sit down and write the Novel.  The character in the prologue will then serve as the Narrator for your Novel.  This method can be very effective if your Novel is voice driven and/or dominated by one Narrator or one to two Narrators.  Writers often use prologues in this manner if they feel they need to let the reader know why the story is being told.

As a Writer, please note that you can focus on a different character perspective in the prologue.  Sometimes, a prologue is used to introduce a character's point of view only once. The rest of the Novel may be told from another point of view or several other points of view, and will never again focus on the character in the prologue.  This option is usually only done out of necessity or for a compelling reason, as you certainly want the character's perspective to contribute to the Novel as a whole, or reinforce themes or ideas present in the Novel.

Please make a note that this type of prologue gives you the opportunity to use a point of view that is not used much -- or at all -- in the rest of the Novel.  It also prevents you from violating your POV (point of view) later in the Novel, as you have already addressed the one character's point of view in your prologue.

Writing a Draft Prologue

How do you create a draft of your Prologue?

First, you should choose which type of prologue fits your story.  To write an effective prologue you will need to first consider which prologue type fits your Novel.  Often prologues are written after the Novel has been completed or when a Novel is in its finishing stages.  If you are writing a prologue cold, with no other chapters written, you should still think about how the prologue is going to affect the rest of your Novel.

Also, think about how the prologue is going to enhance your Novel; and how is it going to be integral to the story?  Will your prologue reveal character, setting, or point of view (POV)?  Will it provide backstory or frame the rest of the Novel in a particular way?

If you happen to be writing a prologue for a completed Novel, you should also think about how the prologue will interact with the first chapter of your Novel.  The prologue should hook your reader in and be just as strong as the details and scenes in your first chapter, if not better.

Please note that your prologue should not regurgitate details in the first chapter or feel redundant in any way, as this is likely to lead to a very boring and dry prologue.

As you are creating your draft prologue, try creating a scene with sensory details.  Often, prologues are set within a scene, especially in action and/or thriller Novels.  This style will give your prologue a fast pace, and it will help to engage the reader right away.

You should also think about which scene or scenes you would like to use in your prologue.  This may be based on the character voice you decide to use for the prologue.

Be sure to use the five senses to make the scene come to life for the reader, with a focus on what the scene smells like, feels like, sounds like, and of course, LOOKS like.  Also, be sure to have your character interact with these elements in the scene and use your character as a way for your reader to access the scene.

As you create your draft prologue, aim for a prologue with one or two scenes.  Most prologues are successful if they are short and to the point.  Try to use only one or two scenes in the prologue, because if you use too many scenes, you can make the prologue feel too long and drawn out.  Often, using one powerful scene as the prolonge can be very effective and will draw your readers in right away.

Please avoid hopping around in time a lot in your prologue, as this will make the prologue feel confusing or jumpy to your readers.  Try to stay in one time period or within one to two time periods so that the prologue does not become too long.

Another tip for you as you create your prologue, be sure to use a specific character voice.  If you decide to use your prologue as a way to access a certain character's point of view, make sure that you get into the voice of your character.  Think about how the character might speak to others and to their "self".  Also consider the age, background, and gender of the character, and how this might affect the character's voice or style of narration.

When putting backstory in your prologue, remember if the purpose of your prologue is to reveal the past moments in a character's life or to discuss the history of a character, you should make sure that there is enough backstory in the draft.

Also include engaging details from the character's past and have the character show why these details are important or necessary to the rest of the story.  Though the backstory should be about the character, it should also connect to the larger themes or ideas in your Novel.

Final Note for today on creating your prologue . . .

If you are using the prologue as a way to access a character that does not appear again in the Novel or only appears as a minor character, use the prologue to really explore the character's perspective.  This is your opportunity to show the readers more about the character and to dive into what makes the character tick!

NEXT BLOG SESSION:

Editing your Prologue

The Editor

Until our next Blog Session dear friends . . .

Peace, Love & Light,

René

© Copyright - René Allen - JULY 2017 - All Rights Reserved