Things You Should Try to Avoid Doing as an Author

Prologues and First Chapters

Prologues and First Chapters;

Prologues;

        A prologue is not a first chapter. It does not dive straight into the story like a first chapter does. You don't really find out what the Prologue is about until the end of a story whilst a first chapter blends into the rest of the story. There is a very distictive difference.

         What does a Prologue do? Well, it can add suspense. Draw the reader in. It can keep the reader guessing. Well, if it's written right that is. Your prologue can be a short passage from a later part in the story, that is what author Lindsey Gray did, and her prologue was reallt good and really sucked me in. 

            Well, if you're going write a prologue you should know how your story is going to end. The Prologue tells us of the ending, but gives nothing away. Although I don't think my prologue is very good I will use it as my example. Mine is very repetitive, you probably shouldn't do that. Now bare in mind that this has not been edited. It is the only example I have.

               As you can see below, my prologue is written from a narrator's perspective. It is obviously written after all of the events that will happen in the story. It gives you small bits of background information surrounding the story, but it gives nothng away. (I think)

              First; you should know that everything I am about to tell you is fact. Second; that none of this was recorded into history, the date was simply reset. Third and finally; you should know that you can never tell another soul. Ever. Or the consequences would be dire.

           Now I’m sure you all remember the story of The Fall. The one where Lucifer, or The Morning Star as he was known then, made the angels divide. Angels were made to choose good and bad. You know the story, right? Well, forget the story, it’s just that; a story. Sure, The Morning Star was thrown out of heaven and down to the deepest pit that was on Earth. It was so deep in the earth it was near the core. Eventually that pit would become Hell. There were no other angels involved, Lucifer was the only one who fell, and that was only because he was cast out by the hand of God.

           Every other angel that has ever rebelled against the kingdom in the slightest way, has been cast out of the heavens. They are only cast out because they cannot die, otherwise God would have killed the angels. One step out of line and you’re out. Most angels have grown tired of it, yet they choose to sit there and take it. That needed to change. Someone needed to make a difference or the angels were going to be walking on egg shells for the rest of their existence and since not even God could destroy the angels, that was going to be a long time.

            One single angel needed to fall. One brave angel needed to fall so they could make God realise what he was doing to his children. It has gone too far, he is far too strict and unreasonable ever since The Morning Star – the first cast out – was cast out of heaven. The first of his children led astray. The first of many. The first of many to be cast out of heaven. This was all way before our story begins. Satan did not fall, he was cast out. There is a difference. No angel had ever fallen. Until The Dark One.

The part in italics is obviously the prologue. This is probably a bad example, but it all I have for now. If any of you know of a good example, just let me know, and make sure it won't be copyrighted if I use it. I don't fancy getting a law suit. 

Anyway that is the main idea for a prologue. As an author you should try to avoid mixing up prologues and first chapters, they are completely different things. 

First Chapters;

               The first thing you should not do with a first chapter is describe a normal day within the main character's life. This will make the whole story seem bland. Does the reader want to know about a normal day in the life? Or does the reader want a plot from the beginning? 

                     It is the same for flashbacks, and/or background information. If there are going to be flachbacks, or background information of any kind make sure it is essensial. If it is essensial, then ask yourself this; does it really need to go into the first chapter? Or can I weave it into the story later? 

                     Your story should be original from the very first moment. Maybe it's another one of those simple werewolf romances, but that doesn't mean it can't be original. From the very first word to the very last, it should be your own. As an author you should try to avoid cliches, but we'll get to that another time.

             A first chapter should start the building of your world. There is no need for lengthy descriptions of what a person looks like, we can find that out later. If you want to draw a reader in then you aren't going to do it with lengthy discriptions of your main characters curly hair and bright green eyes.

                      What I want to know is the gender of the narrator. An inducatuon of their age. I want to know their name without them telling me it. If they have just moved, I want to know why. Why did your character move? Has anything happened in their life, a major event that will effect the story? As a reader I need to know that. 

                          I don't need to know their height. Or the colour of their eyes and hair. This information is not important. Try to avoid adding pointless information. Call your characters short or tall later in the story if you like, but there is no need for "He was 5ft. 7" " I don't need to know an exact height, I barely even know my own because I don't care about it, so why would I care about your characters height? Their height does not effect the picture you get in your head of a character. Alway try to avoid adding unnecessary information.

The First Sentance or Paragraph;

               Some readers decide if they are going to like a book or not by the first sentence or parargraph. This is why they are so important. The opening sentence needs to have as much impact as the closing sentence in a story.

                     "The tears streamed down my cheeks as the knife was pressed closer to my throat." this opening sentence shows us that the narrator is scared and/or upset. Their life is being threatened. It makes the reader question what's going on. What is this knife? Why is the knife there. That will spur them to read on.

                   "As I stared into the mirror at my frizzy that I could never control, and my vibrant green eyes I wondered what would happen today, probably the usual." this is just a bore. Not to mention totally overused. This leaves no room for wondering. Besides this makes me assume the main character is vain. Who stares at themselves in the mirror wondering what will happen in the day? That is unrealistic. It also makes me think your character is shallow, which leads me to think that this will be a cliche story of boy falls for beautiful girl that doesn't know she's beautiful. Haven't we had enough of those?

Conclusion;

                        When writing a first chapter, senctence, or paragraph think "explosion of awesomeness that will grip a reader!" not "I have to describe my character with a full back story of information from their childhood that is not needed." the latter is always dull. As an author you should always try to avoid dull.

What's your opinion on the subject? Did I miss anything? There has to be something i missed this time, this was a hard category to cover! Comment below and let me know if I did! Let me know your opinions or advice on Prologues and First Chapters! 

The next chapter will be about brackets and commentary from you within your story!