To Prologue or not to Prologue

In a recent blog post by James Scott Bell (http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2010/04/death-to-prologues.html), the author discusses his thoughts about the importance of prologues and when to use them. Two years ago, I was fortunate enough to attend an SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators http://www.scbwi.org) conference, Writers' Intensive. I had brought with me my first 500 pages of my fantasy novel to share with a group of writers and an editor or agent. Right before our readings, a panel of agents stated that prologues are in the past and are no longer necessary or even wanted. They said a prologue is a sign of bad writing. Well, imagine my humiliation at having brought a prologue to read. I'd wished I had brought my chapter one. Although my prologue gave backstory that was important to the main character in my novel, I was told the information could be slowly flushed into the the main story. I spent a year revising and fixing, deleting the prologue, and rewriting most of the chapters. Guess what? The novel is so much stronger than before, and I really didn't need the prologue! This is not to say that we should never have prologues, but we should rethink our reasons for having one. What do you think? Are prologues more acceptable in middle grade/young adult novels than in stories for adults? Or is it the other way around?

Read James Scott Bell's post in the link above to see his great ideas about the use of prologues.

The Whims of the Muse

Molly O'Neil recently twitted a link to Shannon Hale's blog: http://oinks.squeetus.com/2010/04/fall-2010-new-from-shannon-hale.html and I completely relate to the author. I'm not yet published (notice the yet) and my current project is taking quite a tall on me - but I wouldn't have any other way. My research has taken me to other dimensions, and the fact that I'm trying to connect a scientific theory to a completely different theory unrelated to science is keeping me up at nights. Still, the plot won't have it any other way and my characters are waiting for me to finish the story already. But I can't have a character expertly fishing if he doesn't know how to hook a bate, or play an expert violin unless we know of their background and how this connects to the rest of the plot. As Shannon Hale said, sometimes we have to "bow to the whims of the muse" and she's so right.

YA Blog Series

Here's a blog series on how certain authors master elements of writing. Lots of details: http://lishacauthen.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/master-writer-1-jennifer-brown-hate-list/