Writing a Prologue to the story project

[wws_wws]

I've posted a total of 6 segments to my writing project. A Prologue started to form in my mind. Should I add it to my currently posted first chapter or post it as separate piece. I think this prologue is necessary as it informs the rest of the story. Thoughts?

 

[Over_Red]

It depends.

If, without the prologue, something in the story just wouldn't make sense, then edit your first chapter and put the prologue at the start of it. It is no longer an independent segment; it's vital information.

If the prologue is not critical to understanding the story, I'd be more comfortable saying you could submit it as its own independent segment.

 

[sr71plt]

Length comes into play. If it's under 800 words, you don't have the option of posting it separately.

 

[Handley_Page]

I've posted a total of 6 segments to my writing project. A Prologue started to form in my mind. Should I add it to my currently posted first chapter or post it as separate piece. I think this prologue is necessary as it informs the rest of the story. Thoughts?

As the stuff is already posted, I thing a separate 'story' is needed.

 

[lovecraft68]

If you already have six chapters written it seems kind of late to add a prologue. Doing that sort of says, "Jeez I forgot something....let's take a step back"

My suggestion would be to take whatever you have for your prologue and work it into you next chapter as either a flashback or have the characters refer to it as a past event that way the series and reader keep moving forward.

 

[LeaHarvey1821]

For me it would depend on the story. If the first chapter of your full story has person A already with person B, then chapter after chapter we read more and more about them - I think you could add a chapter at the end about how A met B, or something like that. But since it is a prologue, you could do it totally separate and let it sit on its own. Either way would work, you would just have to make it clear what it is if you add it to the end of your story.

 

[wws_wws]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I appreciate all your suggestions to make me a better story teller. I find myself revisiting what I wrote before and kept editing and reworking it. The challenge is to keep it clean and not too muddled with extras that may be unnecessary. Anyone else have this issue? Writing way too much because you've come to really care about the characters?

 

[lovecraft68]

I appreciate all your suggestions to make me a better story teller. I find myself revisiting what I wrote before and kept editing and reworking it. The challenge is to keep it clean and not too muddled with extras that may be unnecessary. Anyone else have this issue? Writing way too much because you've come to really care about the characters?

Absolutely.

That's how my SWB series went to fifty installments. Those characters seemed like family members. When I finished it....I found I missed them. They had been in my head every day for the year and a half it took me to write the series and then...it was over...

They do seem real after awhile.

 

[SamScribble]

I get the feeling that what you're talking about is not so much a prologue as a prequel. In which case, shouldn't it be a story in itself? Just a thought.

 

[wws_wws]

I get the feeling that what you're talking about is not so much a prologue as a prequel. In which case, shouldn't it be a story in itself? Just a thought.

It never occurred to me bit that's an interesting suggestion. I wanted to write a Prologue simply to provide a deeper sense of mystery, adhere to the category of "nonconsent/reluctance" and add a bit to the overarching mystery. It would be less than 800 words or so. I've committed nothing to paper, but the scene is playing put in my head over and over. But if I allow myself to explore it further, it may very well turn into a prequel. Brilliant!