What About Prologues?

Again, I’m inviting everyone (both writers and readers) to share some of their beliefs, writing habits, expertise, and opinions on a variety of subjects connected to writing or reading novels. For today’s topic, I’d like to hear what you think about prologues.

There was a time when  many novels started with a prologue. Lately, I’ve heard it said that using a prologue is a cop out that writers use when their novel doesn’t have a strong beginning.

Sometimes a prologue is meant to be a taste of some of the action to come later in the novel. Is it fair to do this? Would writers do better to rethink the beginning of their novels to hook the reader? Is it cheating to jump ahead to the climax of the story and use it as a teaser before starting the novel?

Please tell us your thoughts. If you are a writer, have you ever used a prologue? Tell us why you think it is a good idea (or not). As a reader, how do you feel about reading a prologue and then reading to find out what it is all about?

 

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Invitation to Share Writing Ideas

I’m inviting everyone (both writers and readers) to share some of their beliefs, writing habits, expertise, and opinions on a variety of subjects connected to writing or reading novels. For today’s topic, I’d like to hear what you think about the use of adverbs.

In school we were taught to use many adverbs to help make our writing more interesting. Now we are told that we would do better to find a stronger verb and get rid of the adverbs which often will no longer be needed.

e.g.

1. The old man walked along crookedly and painfully.

Or: The old man limped along.

2. The puppy ran exuberantly through the fields.

Or: The puppy bounded through the fields.

What do you think? Do you have any thoughts about the use (or overuse) of adverbs? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.