Wednesday is my writing process or work in progress day, right? I’m sure that’s what I said. I even went back to check.
Now, I’ve already told anyone who’ll listen that I’ve finished the first draft of my WIP (we’ll call them TDP1, 2 and 3), and I’m still on the giddy height from doing so. But a first draft is a first draft, which means I still have a heck of a long way to go.
On October 22nd I’m attending the NIMROD Conference in Tulsa. Okay, so it’s a tiny conference, but it’s close to home and a great opportunity for me to attend my first actual writer’s conference. I’m headed there with my crit group partners Heather and Seti.
Now I have to send them in my first 4/5 pages (which fills me with dread. And I mean SUPER DREAD). So, I’ve been concentrating on getting those pages up to scratch. The thing is, I’m a prologue person.
What, you ask? Such a thing exists? How could you like prologues?
My question back to you is – how can people not like a well done prologue? Please note: I said well done. Just like anything else, if it’s not well done, then it’s not enjoyable.
A lot of my favourite books have prologues. And right now – it seems the industry standard is to hate them. Agents don’t like them and are very vocal about it. Other writers don’t like them (likely because of the Agent hatred towards them). It makes no sense to me. Can someone clarify why?
So that’s where I am right now. The first five pages of my series – is a prologue. Since it fits perfectly and sets the story up, I’m leaving it, am almost done revising them, and will send them in at the end of the week (I hope).
Now, I’m also reading TDP1. Not re-reading. I don’t read as I write and I haven’t read it at all since I wrote it in June. I’m happy with what I’ve read so far (oh don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of work for me to do, but overall, I’m happy with it). I’ll be starting to work on edits this weekend. OMG it’s real.
Now to the titles part of my blog post.
As you might have guessed TDP is an acronym for my series name. And the books aren’t really called 1, 2 and 3. I’ve had the names set since I started writing (I’m strange like that). The only one that’s a placeholder is the third one. I’m not happy with the name at the moment, but for the first two books? Hell yeah – the names are perfect.
But – (I love Twitter, have I mentioned I love Twitter?) I recently found out one of the people I follow on Twitter is releasing a book that’s the first in their series… with the same name as the first book in TDP. *headdesk* If anything, the first book title is important, it’s perfect for the book in about four ways. I don’t want to change it – but for some obscure reason (and it’s not like my book is anywhere near release self published or traditional) I worry about this.
So help me out – What do you think of prologues and why do you think the industry hates them these days? Have you ever had a title problem?
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I love prologues! I don’t know why most people in the industry don’t and I kind of dislike that they shape future books that way. That said though, a prologue may be difficult for an agent to get past.
Ah title issues. I have them with every book! Single word titles are the toughest because it’s almost impossible to come up with something that hasn’t been used before. Best of luck to you!
Yeah, I just don’t understand the aversion to a good prologue. Oh well, we’ll see. Maybe I can spring it on them at the last moment :p
Single word titles are hard lol. Still though, depending, I should still be able to use it. Good luck to you too!
I wrote a prologue for my first novel and after getting such a terrible reaction to it, I re-labelled it ‘Chapter 1’ Easy peasy. 😉 I guess…if it doesn’t read like a ‘chapter’ that’s a bigger problem. I say, stick with it. Go with your heart. Peace and prologues be with you 🙂
I think it reads like a chapter, but a short chapter. It’s under 1k long. I’m looking at ways to incorporate it into the first chapter and think I might have a solution.
I’m not a fan of prologues because most of the time it’s back story to get the reader up to speed to the book in question. If the author can’t do the prologue in under a thousand words,(and do it well) I skip it.
Ref: titles
Don’t sweat it. Titles are reused all the time. The only time it’s an issue is if were a big name author or a very well known book.
I agree that prologues should be short. And mine is 😉 Although I’m biased when I say it’s a good one, it really works to open the story.
I feel a little better with people saying Titles get reused all the time. Thank you 😀
I had a really good (i thought) prologue that was half a page in my first WIP. Universally, everybody I showed it to said to take it out. I have a two sentence prologue in my 2nd WIP. Everybody likes the 2nd one. There is just no rhyme or reason…
Yeah, it’s odd. I really think people are just biased because someone, somewhere said: Oh prologues suck lol.
Hi K.T. That is exciting about the convention! I don’t care how big or how small I think they are worth going to. I went to my first convention this fall (it was local, of course) and I loved every minute of it! I learned so much. Didn’t learn about prologues tho. Wish we could explain it. I think they just like to prove they are in control! lol. JK
Thank you 😀 Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it, but so nervous about the 5 page submission – ARGH.
First off congrats on finishing that first draft! I know it is early on and you are just starting edits but that is HUGE! I should know I am in exactly the same place as you:)
As for prologues, I just went to an SCBWI conference and an agent talked specifically on that and she said in fact the industry doesn’t hate prologues, they had badly done prologues and there are so many badly done ones it almost makes them cringe when seeing one. Bt if you can write a good one then your gold. She said a good one is one that would capture part of your book later on at an intesnse scene and then the first chapter you know is about that character but shows the normalcy or that person.
Then she said the second way is for it to introduce a character in a simple scene so that we can see how he or she is as a person. What they don’t like (again this is what she said) is when a prologue is a bunch of backstory. She thinks that should be weaved in throughout the book.
I hope that helps since I’ve written a book as a comment:)
Thank you for the book as a comment 😉 I really do appreciate it. I’ve managed to weave the prologue in so that it simply carries onto the next scene with a slight jump in location. 😀 So I’m hoping it works as a scene in chapter 1 now.