tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10583449.post239800637117836760..comments2023-09-23T04:56:51.617-07:00Comments on Forensics & Faith: Writing the Prologue--Part 2~ Brandilyn Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04771812607327238979noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10583449.post-62374245997135138182008-03-28T06:38:00.000-07:002008-03-28T06:38:00.000-07:00Yeah, I probably wouldn't try it either, Brandilyn...Yeah, I probably wouldn't try it either, Brandilyn. Better to stick with what works for all readers. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this subject. It's been one I've thought about a good bit lately.C.J. Darlingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16541599888177703695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10583449.post-7950305946064538922008-03-27T16:47:00.000-07:002008-03-27T16:47:00.000-07:00I hear your warning and I agree that there are asp...I hear your warning and I agree that there are aspects of classic novels that would not fit within modern novels. I still think they are worth our study because it takes a mastery of storytelling to produce a classic. For a more modern example of a prologue that works, we can turn to another classic, <I>The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy</I> by Douglas Adams. His prologue is another example of a little time-forward, a little time-backward and space displaced. He also breaks nearly every rule of writing fiction, but it works, resulting in <I>42</I> and <I>so long and thanks for all the fish</I> being forever ingrained in our society.Timothy Fishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06554064732811895577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10583449.post-61889468706327895022008-03-27T13:44:00.000-07:002008-03-27T13:44:00.000-07:00Timothy, you're right. Exceptions abound, and it's...Timothy, you're right. Exceptions abound, and it's hard to cover them all.<BR/><BR/>The only caution I'd add to the books you mention is that they're classic literature. We can read them and enjoy them for the classics they are today--and say that the prologues work. But today's fiction tends to be written differently. What was published then may not be accepted as the best way to go today.<BR/><BR/>C.J., glad you enjoyed MHC's technique. Shows it can be done and get published--and some will enjoy it. I wouldn't do it myself, however. The subjectivity of fiction! :) I still say it gives away too much and negates too much of the story. I'd rather be surprised when this event happens, rather than anticipating it.~ Brandilyn Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04771812607327238979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10583449.post-79115899370818766432008-03-27T05:54:00.000-07:002008-03-27T05:54:00.000-07:00Mary Higgins Clark is one who likes to do the snip...Mary Higgins Clark is one who likes to do the snippet of a future emotional event, and I must admit it was very effective. I can't remember the title, but the essence of the prologue was that a woman had been buried alive in a coffin and only had a short amount of time to live. Did it grab me? You betcha. I didn't feel that chapter one was a huge let down either. In some ways it actually built suspense because you never knew who was going to be responsible for putting her there.C.J. Darlingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16541599888177703695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10583449.post-41139632499699393462008-03-27T05:20:00.000-07:002008-03-27T05:20:00.000-07:00The problem with generalization is that there are ...The problem with generalization is that there are usually exceptions. For an excellent example of how to do a prologue in disguise, you might consider <I>Oliver Twist</I> in which Dickens begins the story with the night of Oliver’s birth. The majority of the story takes place when Oliver is older, so Dickens uses chapter two as a transition from showing us the horrid conditions under which Oliver was born to a time in which Oliver was old enough to influence his destiny, but didn’t.<BR/><BR/>He called it “A Word of Explanation” rather than a prologue, but the prologue in Mark Twain’s <I>A Connecticut Yankee in King Author’s Court</I> demonstrates <I>Time-Back</I>, <I>Time-Forward</I>, and <I>Space</I> all rolled into one. After the events, the narrator is listening to the Yankee tell what led to his experience, while somewhere very far from King Author’s Court. Twain’s prologue provides a gateway from the real world into a world of fantasy. It is quite bereft of action, but it exudes conflict. It draws the reader in, so by the time the reader gets to the first chapter, he is like the protagonist, in Camelot but he isn’t sure how he got there.<BR/><BR/>We would do well to learn from these two examples.Timothy Fishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06554064732811895577noreply@blogger.com