Paranormal Lovers discussion
Writer's area
>
Prologue/Preface
date
newest »
newest »
Sometimes a preface just drags you in, and you desperately want to know WHY!!I don't mind reading these, 'cos I know I'll get the whole story eventually.....
Maybe, I'm just weird :)
I don't think you're weird! I love them too, but I don't want to turn any readers away by including it.However, having posted the question in a couple of places, it seems that many readers aren't bothered by a prologue or snippet at the beginning of the book. Thanks for the feedback Carole-Ann! Much appreciated!
Depends how they are done. I hate when the prologue is actually a portion of the climax scene stuck in the front of the book to hook the reader. Makes me want to toss the book out the window.I love how Richelle Mead did the prologue in the 2nd and 4th book of The Vampire Academy series. It was a quick recap of what happened before and explained the world the book was set in. Basically perfect.
Hi Katie, not sure if you've read Twilight or Larissa Ione (Pleasure Unbound), but this is the closest to what I'm talking about. It is a snippet leading up to the climax. But in my case, it's quite vague. The reader has no connection to the MC yet and I do not use any names. I did it to kinda set the tone. And it's not cut-and-paste. It's actually written slightly different than later in the book.
Thanks so much for your feedback! Much appreciated!
My copy of Pleasure Unbound does not have a prologue. Desire Unchained does and that type of prologue does not bother me. Although in the Demonica series what bothers me is having the glossary in the front and I always skip that. I want to learn about the world as events happen in the story. I don't want to read a dictionary definition of what is going to pop up in the story before it actually happens.
I guess that is the key for me in regards to prologues. I don't want to be spoiled. i want the chance to react first hand to what happens in the story as it happens. So if the prologue is a short scene that introduces the character or shows something in their past that is fine with me. However, if it is a preview of something that is going to happen later in the book than it upsets me. in essence it pulls me out of the story while I'm reading, because I keep wondering when is X going to show up and that lessens my enjoyment.
I love them :) for me a book is not the same without one.... as you say in Twilight"I'd never given much thought to how I would die — though I'd had reason enough in the last few months — but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this."
It doesn't spoil the book or give you too much information, just enough to get you hooked!
@Katie - No, Pleasure Unbound has a snippet, toward the beginning, from later in the book. It's not a prologue in this case. Did you mind this short scene in the beginning? @Jade - I agree with Katie in that I don't like to feel as if I've lived the climax before I get there. But as you pointed out, I think Twilight had a good intro. I was curious to know what happened and it didn't ruin anything for me. Really, I forgot about it as I immersed myself deeper into the story. She referred to her attacker as the 'hunter'. Until I got to the end of the book, I had no idea who or what the hunter was.
Thank you both for your comments :) It seems that readers are kind of split on this. Some like the intros, some don't.
I'm in the process of editing my novel and wanted to get some feedback from the group. Am curious to know what you think about a prologue/preface? Do you love them, hate them, skip them or are you indifferent?
I've heard the good and bad of how readers feel about them. Does it frustrate you when the author takes a scene from later in the novel and turns it into a preface? I'm thinking of Twilight here.