What is a prologue?
Some of you are thinking what an absurd question! Who doesn't know what a prologue is?
Of course it's the couple of pages that set the scene before the actual story starts. Some of the greatest writers have written prologues like the great William Shakespeare, Stephanie Meyers and plenty more. But what makes a prologue so outstanding and what makes it worthy of having a place in your masterpiece?
Some say that a prologue should offer insight into what your book is about, if it foreshadows a character's destiny or whether it portrays the world your readers will be getting adapted to for many, many hours on end.
Others might suggest that a prologue is not necessarily needed to accomplish this. As you go through the book itself you might realise the character's destiny or who the antagonist is and where their problems lie and why, same goes for the world part too.
How do you know if you need a prologue?
I can't tell you that. Writing a prologue has to be an individual choice. It is a feeling you'll have when you read it through and something will not click into place. If you feel that there is something missing then try it with a prologue, but if you already have one and it doesn't do anything for the book itself scrap it. It is possible that it is simply not needed.
Sunday 29 April 2012
POV? 1ST, 2ND or 3RD?
Characters point of view. What us writers query about and what readers can't get enough of.
I have come across lots of questions in passing weeks on which POV should be used. Should it be 1st person where the character tells the story or the 2nd where the character or characters talk about somebody else and not themselves or do they tell it in 3rd.
This is the most challenging task of writing. Making sure that the right POV is accurate, that the information they are giving the reader is necessary and that it moves nicely. Not slow, not too fast but at a nice steady pace.
I write using first person. I like that you know things about their past, present and even their future and the fact that they know nothing. Apart from when they're going to sleep/ eat etc. It can also be really exciting when characters realise their fate or destiny but usually the writing has been on the wall the whole time.
I found writing in the 2nd person too daunting, and to have to address the reader as you was quite difficult to get the point of my biro to touch the paper and write something conjuring. Being an avid reader of Jodi Picoult who has been known to use this narrative in such books as Handle With Care and My Sister's Keeper, I found that she did this really well and that I was far more comfortable reading it than writing.
As for 3rd person, that was even more difficult because you have to know what everyone else is doing, what is going on outside the window and so on. There's a state of confusion when writing in this narrative and when reading it. I found the writing of Harry Potter really hard because of the amount of detail and of what was happening in each of the characters lives. That's not to say J.K Rowling isn't a great writer because she is after all the phenomenon is still growing and she got younger kids to read too. Such a great achievemnet.
Whichever POV you choose to right in make sure it is the right one for you and for your readers. This may take some time in getting right but it will be worth it in the end.
I have come across lots of questions in passing weeks on which POV should be used. Should it be 1st person where the character tells the story or the 2nd where the character or characters talk about somebody else and not themselves or do they tell it in 3rd.
This is the most challenging task of writing. Making sure that the right POV is accurate, that the information they are giving the reader is necessary and that it moves nicely. Not slow, not too fast but at a nice steady pace.
I write using first person. I like that you know things about their past, present and even their future and the fact that they know nothing. Apart from when they're going to sleep/ eat etc. It can also be really exciting when characters realise their fate or destiny but usually the writing has been on the wall the whole time.
I found writing in the 2nd person too daunting, and to have to address the reader as you was quite difficult to get the point of my biro to touch the paper and write something conjuring. Being an avid reader of Jodi Picoult who has been known to use this narrative in such books as Handle With Care and My Sister's Keeper, I found that she did this really well and that I was far more comfortable reading it than writing.
As for 3rd person, that was even more difficult because you have to know what everyone else is doing, what is going on outside the window and so on. There's a state of confusion when writing in this narrative and when reading it. I found the writing of Harry Potter really hard because of the amount of detail and of what was happening in each of the characters lives. That's not to say J.K Rowling isn't a great writer because she is after all the phenomenon is still growing and she got younger kids to read too. Such a great achievemnet.
Whichever POV you choose to right in make sure it is the right one for you and for your readers. This may take some time in getting right but it will be worth it in the end.
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