So in FanFiction you see a really large amount of flashbacks and prologues. I have slightly different views on them though, so bear with me.
Prologues
Many people don't like prologues. I personally don't think they're so bad. However, just remember a few things:
Prologues- notes
1. Prologues are always at the beginning of a story, never the end.
2. Prologues are meant to do many things, though they can be used well in very few stories. They could be used to give (the reader) information, to hint at something, to create a certain mood like suspense or somber.
3. That's why I have to say that prologues are probably (at least slightly) better for certain situations/certain genres. Prologues, I think, work best with fantasy story's, action story's, adventure story's, mysteries, and other genres like those ones.
4. Most Wattpaders don't write those genres, though. I mostly just see romance, and romance alone. And if you're writing a 100% romance story than why on earth would you need a prologue? There's actually a huge difference between 'exciting' and 'eye-catching'. In most romances you'll be going for eye-catching. You will not need a prologue!
5. Stop being so obvious all the time! I know that some writers are being obvious on purpose and that's fine but when you're not trying to do that be careful. I mean, there's always that one smart reader or those great guessers but come on. You can still try. If you struggle with this you can:
-not write a prologue
-get others opinions on how obvious it is
-avoid mentioning to many physical features (eye color, hair color, unique hair does, noticeable jewelry, etc.)
-be non-descriptive, especially with dialogue to (accents, nicknames, phrases, etc.)
6. Also if you're writing a prologue hinting towards specific characters, make sure you're not actually hinting towards the wrong character, and please don't change who the character is halfway through. It tends to drive people insane and/or upset some of your readers. Understandably to, to be honest.
6. Last but not least for prologue notes : make them snappy. Not rushed per say but to be honest prologues usually don't need quite the amount of detail you're (hopefully) putting in the rest of the story.
Epilogues-notes
Epilogues are so much more easy to deal with than prologues! Yay! Also this means that I have less to write and so you have less to read which I know will make all of you guys who are so desperate to reach the end of the chapter smile! So here goes:
1. Epilogues go at the end of a story, never the beginning.
2. People seem to like epilogues a lot more than prologues. You can use epilogues a lot more than prologues (sorry, prologues). In fact, you can use epilogues for just about anything, even one-shots if you play your cards right.
3. Epilogues can really be any length, though usually they're not necessarily long.
4. Unlike prologues, epilogues don't always need to necessarily be a serious part of the story. Sometimes they'll just be fluff, even! They're generally used to show life and/or events after the story's end.
5. I remember the two this way (I don't need know this anymore but I still think of them this way): while prologues are the burning things that draws peoples interest, excites people, starts your story with a 'boom' that starts to much for some to even handle, epilogues are the opposite. They are often what I call cool-downs, when the drama in the story is calm and you're heart can finally start racing. They help to quite that little part of everyone that's screaming 'More! More! More!'
However they can be used to do the opposite. It can be angst, it could hint at things, maybe even with a huge cliffhanger!
I'm sure you're future viewers will curse me for mentioning that one.
So yeah. Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I just ended my first notebook of all my writing I plan to post online. Then I changed what this chapter was about after finally deciding to just not write the last one in my old notebook. So yeah. Sorry again.
Love,
Hopeandpassion259
Word count: 683
Word goal: none
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