7 Things About Prologues

I am in edit mode, which means I'm thinking a lot about writing structure. Here's the deal, I'm about to list a bunch of things, they are not rules, because you can find an example of a great story that breaks every rule. 

And, not to be all you haven't seen what I have seen, for the reader folks among you, let me tell you - if you've done contest reading, slush pile reading, or anything where you are exposed to a bunch of unpublished possibly newbie writers, there are so many more prologues out there. So, if your sample of prologues is published prologues, consider those Olympic caliber prologues. 

1. I believe it was Jennifer Crusie I heard say readers are like baby ducks, looking to imprint. 

If the first character is not a main character, it can be disorienting. You spend all this time with this character and wait, they are the villain? They are dead now? They are just introducing us to magic? Now I have to learn about their great great grandkid?

2. Similarly if the setting is different, the reader may be very excited to hang out in ancient Rome, except in the next chapter we're in China and now they need to adjust. 

3. And if the time period shift - anywhere from 6 days to six millennia, you are leaping your reader to a new place. Yes chapter 1 and chapter 2 can often be from different POVs or locales.  But each switch requires resetting on the part of your reader.  

4. If the prologue is there because the prologue is more interesting than the chapter that follows it, this is a tricky thing to pull off. In some circumstances it works great. It's so cool. But you also run the risk of losing the reader because if the sample that got them excited was full of intrigue, but the mood of the story is different, well, maybe I didn't want that. And the length of time I will care to get back to the place you promised me is limited. 

5. If the prologue is the same character but at a different age, there are two issues I see. One is a craft issue. Not everyone is as adept at writing six year olds as they are adults. 

6. The other issue is not every reader enjoys six year old characters, teen characters, 400 year old characters, so they may opt out, thinking this wasn't the story they wanted. 

7. And yes, I know I wrote 7 things, and then gave you six that boils down to, if your prologue doesn't match the rest of your story, you are potentially confusing the audience. And look, readers are smart. I see tips out there like call your prologue chapter 1. I have read books that did this, and I still knew, once I turned to chapter 2, and saw we were changing to a new POV, that I had read a prologue. 

So what are my fixes? First of all, as I said some stories do all these things I complained about and are still great. Some stories are actually better told in an unusual order. (Though I think it's worth noting, if your story isn't good in chronological order, jiggering the timeline only disguises so much.)

I confess, I have a huge peeve about extra POVs. I'm not against an ensemble cast, but gosh, if all your extra POVs die, then so does my trust in your extra POVs. But, there are plenty of books I've read that do it and make me care and make me feel so fast that I go with it. 

It's a little bit like the length argument. I won't care if your movie is three hours long if it's three amazing hours. I won't care that you had a prologue, or disguised your prologue as chapter 1 if it's a great prologue that enhances the story. 

But sometimes, the prologue is for the author, so the author can get into the zone, the background, or foreground of the story. And in those cases, it should be snipped. 

Over on the Newsletter

I (finally) posted some great books I read in the first quarter of the year.  

Three(ish) Interesting Things

1.  The world wide web is thirty.

2. Obviously the rain in California has not been great for everyone, it has led to a surfeit of wildflowers. 

3. Let's pair these two items together, though yes, nothing is stopping me from adding another item. A woman appeared to - shall we say - really, really, enjoy the LA Philharmonic and unrelatedly, except perhaps in my brain there (or was, because things melt) an iceberg that for reasons has been nicknamed the dickie berg.  (The images if you click through will only be of orchestras and icebergs, but the headlines may not be what you want folks reading over your shoulder, so, you know, click responsibly.)  

Also, it's AANHPI list.  Jackie Lau has curated a list of reasonably priced Asian romance authors.  

Malia Maunakea has curated a list of Pacific Islander authors.  

And of course, reminder that I have a list of Hawaiian authors - diasporan and not, that does include me.  

RIP Sally Alexander

I wrote two letters to two teachers I felt had been especially important to me when I graduated high school, and one of them was to Sally Alexander. The vagaries of how English teachers were assigned in when I was in high school are now foggy to me. But I know that I had heard Ms. Alexander was tough. I wasn't afraid of tough, but also didn't always want to challenge myself unnecessarily. I ran into a recent grad at the pool the summer before my senior year. She told me the best thing she ever did was get herself into Ms. Alexander's English class. I had had great English teachers already. There's a reason I thank my English teachers in the acknowledgements of just about everything I write. But I became determined to get myself into Ms. Alexander's class. And I did. And it was great. And hard. But great. The senior English at the time was focused on a ton of personal writing. I ended up using one of the pieces for one of my college essays. The class was great because Ms. Alexander was an alumna, she seemed to get so many things about our lives, and was so interested in getting us to express ourselves clearly and firmly. And she also knew when to throw out the lesson plan, and let us have a deep discussion about school rules.  I later discovered - because she was an alum, that we were on the same reunion cycle. So I've had the chance to see her over the years, to catch up with her. She didn't fully retire until 2012, and even then, she ran a book club, that alums were invited to until last year. I am quite certain amazing English teacher and fellow alum was just a small piece of her legacy, but hope knowing of this, brings some measure of comfort to her loved ones. 

Spring, Books, and People

One of the things I love about where I live is that I can walk to a bookstore. A bookstore that carries poetry, YA, romance, non-fiction, and a really fun selection of cards too. 

Independent Bookstore Day was on Saturday. If I involve more forms of transportation I can - and have - get to five different independent bookstores. (Some of you are gonna tell me there are more than that in the DC area, and I am going to tell you that I focus on the ones that carry genre fiction, and also, eventually I get tired.)

One of the things I love about spring, despite all the pollen, is that people are out and about. They are ready to linger, not just goal oriented. This particular weekend in DC there was also a big event downtown, and a reader con just across the river. In other words, there were crowds, such that I was going to limit my travels to the neighborhoods near me. But of course, there was a protest, a string of local concerts, on top of all the normal street vending and other outdoor gatherings. 

There is something so delightful about seeing people who are out and about for fun. About having the leisure to stop and grab snacks. I remember someone saying that was the thing they missed most in the early days of the pandemic, to get able to wander. 

Now, masked, and vaccinated, the ability to wander a bit, to linger a bit, to have a day where you get to take off your sweater as you wander around was just a delight.

Plus, I came home with more books.