In Defense of Prologues

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away... you know the line. But let's all admit it. We've read our share of bad prologues. Especially in sci-fi and fantasy, prologues get abused -- a lot. Show of hands: How many of you skip prologues without actually reading them? I thought so.

And it seems the publishing industry is over prologues. Most agents and editors nowadays will tell you to cut that prologue right out of your WIP. Or worse, they won't even look at a manuscript if it has a prologue.

Still, just because prologues get abused and overused so much, doesn't mean they're worthless. Before I get to defending them, though, let's go over a couple of things a prologue is NOT.

A prologue is not...

• a place to store irrelevant back story and force it on your readers.
• a scene that happens in the same time/place as your story (usually)
• written from the main POV of your story (also, usually)

In most cases, novels don't need prologues. The information they contain can usually be dispersed throughout the first chapter without breaking the flow of the narrative.

But occasionally prologues are the perfect place to showcase a piece of necessary information, or a voice that would otherwise not be included. The prologue to Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind, for example, gives us a wider, more omniscient view of the character Kote. Without spilling all the beans at once Rothfuss sets the tone for the novel and for how we should view his main character, a detail that is very important to the telling of the story. 

Star Wars is the perfect example of a prologue being put to good use. At the time that the movies released, science fiction was a relatively unfamiliar genre for the general public. The prologue, therefore, was crucial in setting the overall tone, outlining the basic rules of the universe, and orienting people with the main conflicts that the characters will face.

When well done, a prologue draws us into the story. It cracks the lid on all the juicy awesomeness that's yet to come, calls to our curiosity, and whets our appetites for adventure.

Writing Tips: 3 Reasons NOT to Begin Your Novel With a Dream or a Flashback

Figuring out where to start your novel can be difficult. Where your readers enter the story, what they see, who they meet, will color the way they view the rest of the novel. The first few pages are where the reader gets their footing and learns just what the story is all about, where it's going to take them, whether or not they should trust the voice that is taking them through this foreign story land.

Sometimes, when you're not sure just how you should start your novel, it can seem like a good idea to start with a dream or a flashback, your character remembering something that happened before the reader came along, or something that never happened at all. There are 3 reasons not to do this.

1. The Confusion Factor
   In the first five pages of the novel, you should be setting up your reader's expectations of the character and world that they're going to be sharing with you for the next 200 pages. If you then suddenly shout "just kidding!" and change everything that they know or thought the novel was going to be about, you risk at worst losing their interest, and at least confusing them. 
2. It's been done (and done and done and done)
   You want your story to stand out in your reader's mind. You want to grab people's attention and hold it. If you resort to this trick that everyone else has tried, how well are people going to remember your book in the midst of all the others? Be worth remembering. It may take a little more work, but it's worth it!
3. If it's a flashback, why didn't you just start there in the first place?
   If you absolutely have to start us in the "past" and then jump forward, ask yourself why? Why didn't you just start us there in the first place? For a flashback to work at the very beginning of a novel, the event you're taking us back to must be pretty earth-shattering for your character, but then not matter at all until the current time. The fall of Voldemort and Harry's arrival at the Dursleys' home were both HUGE to the plot of Harry Potter. So J.K. Rowling, instead of having a character remember those moments later, plunked the reader down right there in the moment. She started with a deeply significant event and showed it to her readers, and by doing so, those events had more impact.

Finally, you can choose to do a flashback or a dream at the beginning. If it's right for your book, it's right for your book. But you've gotta wow us with it. Make it a flashback or dream to remember!

Writing Tips: 4 Questions to Ask When Writing Back Story in Your Novel

If you're reading this blog post, you're probably creative. You're probably a writer with an overactive imagination. That's great! You're my favorite type of person. That deep and beautiful imagination is what drives you to do what you do, to write and create worlds for you and your readers to get lost in.

So what do you do when it comes time to share that world with others, when it's time to tell the tale that's been growing inside your fertile mind? People who have the widest imaginations have the hardest time getting to the heart of their story. What details do you include? How much history to you reveal? After all, you've worked so hard to cultivate your characters, who they are, how they and their world came to be. Surely your readers are interested in the details and the back story as much as you are.

And you're right--up to a point. I love discovering the depth of detail and planning that an author has gone through to create the character that I am following and the world that character lives in. The problem arises when I get socked with that back story before I'm ready to appreciate it, before it matters to the story at hand.

If you throw too much detail at your reader too soon, they're not going to know what to do with it. At the beginning of a story, your reader is busy figuring out how things work, who the characters are, what they want most, and what's standing in the way. They're not gonna want to know WHY things work that way... not yet... or the deep personal histories of the characters yet... they don't know to who they're supposed to care about yet!

You'll have the same problem if you throw in too much detail at the end, too. Your reader will likely skim right over back story revealed too close to the ending, in order to get to the "important part" of the story.

So how do you  know what back story to include and where? Here are four questions you can ask when you feel the urge to type out your character's family tree:

1. Is this bit of back story relevant to what's going on RIGHT NOW in the story? (follow-up question: Will your reader understand that it is relevant right now?)
2. Does the back story you're including move the story forward? 
3. Does it reveal something important about character motivation?
4. Will your reader be confused about what's going on without this back story?

If the answers all of these questions are yes, include your back story! If any of these answers are no, you might want to reconsider revealing that back story now.

The last thing you want is for your reader to skim over any part of your tale. It's better to reveal back story on a need-to-know basis rather than dumping it all on your reader when they're not ready for it. The right bit of information presented at the right moment will hook your readers and then they won't be able to get enough!

Without Utopia I Never Would Have...

I haven't mentioned it here yet, but UtopiaCon is a most amazing and wonderful conference. They're on their fifth year of hosting the conference. My first year attending was last year. We who have experienced the magic that is Utopia want to give back to the organizers who have given so much inspiration and support to us. A conference of this magnitude--of this level of MAGIC--is not cheap.

In the past, organizers, friends, and even family have come forward and given from their own personal funds in order to help move Utopia forward another year and we want to pay them back. We want to FIGHT FOR OUR WRITE and do our part to help.

This year especially, we'd like to make sure they go into planning sessions with an extra boost to it's bottom line.

So if you've ever been touched by Utopia, or if you love any of the authors, bloggers, or readers who have, please take a moment to give a few dollars. This will insure the inspiration continues.

We hope you'll be led to give from the heart, but to sweeten the deal we have some MAJORLY EPIC incentives! In addition to what you’ll get from the Go Fund Me organizers (see the donation page to read about those), you’ll also get entered to win any one of these amazing raffle prizes listed in the rafflecopter below!

Prizes like this one:

And in order to help convey the magical sense of community Utopia has instilled in its attendees, I want everyone to know that...

There is no purchase or donation necessary to enter to enter the drawing, but we encourage you to give even just $10 in order to help move us toward our big goal. And don’t forget, every donation of at least $10 earns you free books!

How to enter:

1. Go visit #UtopiaLove’s Go Fund Me page and make a small donation (this isn’t necessary, but we would be so jazzed if you did this first! AND this earns you an automatic prize based on your donation level. Check your email to collect.) 
2. Click through any one of the rafflecopter entry methods. Complete the necessary item and get entered for all of the raffle prizes listed. 
3. Click through to the list of other participating authors & bloggers to read how Utopia has changed them! 

That’s it! Thanks!
Participating Blogs:
Karen Hooper http://karenamandahooper.blogspot.com/
Kallie Ross Kallieross.com
Susan Burdorf www.facebook.com/susanburdorfauthor
Jo Michaels http://jomichaels.blogspot.com
Carlyle Labuschagne Www.worldsawaybookblog.blogspot.com
Shantella Benson https://thewordsmithe.wordpress.com/
Shelley Custer www.stalkingshelves.blogspot.com
S.M. Boyce smboyce.com/boyce-blog
Komali da Silva www.komalidasilva.com
PK Hrezo Http://Pk-Hrezo.blogspot.com
Elisabeth Kauffman http://writingrefinery.blogspot.com
Patti Larsen www.pattilarsen.com
Michaela Mills http://www.michaelamillswrites.com/blog
Ginny Gallagher http://ginnygallagher.com/news/
Liz Long http://lizclong.com
Raine Thomas http://rainethomas.com
Stacey Marie Brown http://www.staceymariebrown.com/
Heather Hildenbrand http://www.heatherhildenbrand.com
Amy Evans http://amyevansbooks.com/

Again, you can click this link to enter the raffle! I hope you'll support this awesome group, and consider attending! I promise it'll change your life.

Big News for Writing Refinery!

Last week on DIY MFA Radio, my friend Gabriela Pereira and I announced a new joint venture. We're going to put out an anthology! It's called the Writer Igniter Anthology, and it needs YOUR VOICE to make it amazing. You can listen to the podcast episode where we announce it here.

The special thing about this anthology is that each submission has to use a writing prompt generated by the Writer Igniter App. That means you have to stretch that creative muscle extra hard. I can't wait to hear what new stories come out of this project.

So come check it out! Submissions are OPEN. We're looking for new voices and creative ideas. Come! Write! Take a chance with us and get your name in print. We wanna read your best creative stories. So write, write, write! And then submit, submit, submit!