How to get the balance between exposition and assuming a readers knowledge

[Gully]

I’ve found this especially difficult because my book is set in an imaginary world with imaginary creatures. How do I get the reader to see inside my head without having to explain some information. Including actions and bits of information solve some issues but other information is more complex. I struggle with idea of a prologue in a children’s book. So to prologue or not to prologue? Now that is a question.

 

[Amber]

These are the things I consider when making decisions about exposition ....

Things we can assume everyone knows, don't need to be explained. Things which aren't, do. I don't need someone explaining to me how to fry an egg. I would need someone to explain to me how a farm works.

Also...

When writing a scene/chapter, you only need to reveal what the reader needs to know to get to the end of that scene/chapter.

I don't know whether you need a prologue or not. Everyone says they're nonos. But who cares.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Sometimes prologues are necessary , it really depends on the situation. However, often the information can be provided simply through the story writing as necessary, and only has to be done once. Really without reading the story, only you can decide what to do. Just bare in mind, if the average reader has no idea what it means, you need to clarify. Often the explaining can be crafted into the story.

 

[Howard]

Well, FWIW, @AgentPete is allergic to prologues and will embark upon lengthy critical safari if you try and sneak one past him
That being said, I really like them, but as long as they serve a purpose. If something just must be told to the reader that lies outside of the remit/timeline/scope of the main story, I think they can be a fun tease, offering maybe a little foreboding for what is to come. And I do like a good bode.
As to conveying your imaginary world to the reader: hard to say without examples, but its something fantasy/sci-fi writers do everyday. You can normalise your world, just plowing straight forward without explanation and let action show the attributes that are supernormal (eg, your characters are all able to fly, but instead of explaining that, like its odd, you just have them do it). You can have an outside perspective: is everything in your world alien? Is there something/one there can view these alien things with more human eyes, so they can be as surprised as the reader?
Failing that, if you must describe something, be painfully brief. The most simple, word-shy of descriptions tend to be the most powerful. Just hint at the main features and let your reader build their own picture. If you describe something in intimate detail, the readers simply will not get it, and will gloss over your painstaking writing.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Perhaps I could point out I wrote a one page Prologue for my Sci-fi novel. It would certainly make getting into the story easier for the reader.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Another thing to remember is your reader need not see your world exactly as you see it. Give them the bare bones and let them flesh out the picture with their own imaginations. Yes, there are critical details they need to see your way--make sure they have those details--but leave things soft around the edges. By inserting their own ideas, readers make the story more personal. The author does not need to control everything.

 

[Jay Aitch]

You know, I love the idea of a prologue; an amusing, self-aware introduction that prepares the reader for what is to follow... (At least, in my head)

However, in reality, as a reader, how many prologues can I remember? Off the top of my head? Two (embarrassingly, one happens to be Christopher Paolini's "Eragon").

Indeed, I have to admit that if a book has grabbed me (enough that I'm reading beyond the first page) then invariably I completely forget that the author has even written a prologue.

So, my question is, what is the purpose? Perhaps the way forward is to consider the history of the prologue and why it was created in the first instance?

 

[Jay Aitch]

As to the nature of show, don't tell... but tell enough when necessary for understanding...

I have to ask that question myself all the time - I work with imaginary worlds, myself. I wonder if the way forward is to try to drip-feed the exposition through the actions of characters.... So instead of saying: The villain had 2 foot horns, twisted outwards and in upon themselves.... The villain's caressed his horns tracing their spiralling from base to tip....

(And now you can shoot me for such a terrible example. And for teaching egg-sucking grannies.)

 

[Jay Aitch]

Another thing to remember is your reader need not see your world exactly as you see it. Give them the bare bones and let them flesh out the picture with their own imaginations. Yes, there are critical details they need to see your way--make sure they have those details--but leave things soft around the edges. By inserting their own ideas, readers make the story more personal. The author does not need to control everything.

I do this with my main characters.... I give them a name and characteristics but not a description.... their name is always open to interpretation... such that if the MC is male, his name is not fundamentally "white anglo-saxon". He could be black, white, brown, green or polka-dot. Hopefully that enables the reader to put themselves into his shoes.

 

[ChrisLewando]

Call your prologue chapter one...

 

[Howard]

Call your prologue chapter one...

But that would be misleading as you will likely completely change tac as you start chapter 2, no? Whole point of a prologue is that it doesn't attach to the main story directly. I mean, you can sneak it past Pete that way, but...

 

[ChrisLewando]

It all depends on the story, of course. I tend to change POV with each chapter and run several threads/povs which gradually come together and get tighter as the novel progresses. But whether calling something 'prologue' or 'chapter one' will change an agent or editor's opinion as to whether they like your story, I sincerely doubt. If they like your work, this is simply a marketing decision. So do what you like at this point. As always, this is just my opinion.

 

[Howard]

Aye, true. It all comes down to what story you are writing and how you are writing it. As I said above, I quite like a good prologue, but in some situations, they don't work

 

[Kitty]

I’ve found this especially difficult because my book is set in an imaginary world with imaginary creatures. How do I get the reader to see inside my head without having to explain some information. Including actions and bits of information solve some issues but other information is more complex. I struggle with idea of a prologue in a children’s book. So to prologue or not to prologue? Now that is a question.

If a prologue is there solely to info dump then best not. The best way to handle exposition is to drip feed it, bit by bit, and only what the reader really needs to know. The world you have created is real inside your head. It is your job as a writer to bring it alive for the reader

 

[Quillwitch]

And yet, strangely enough, a lot of best sellers have prologues. The Name of the Rose, Lord of the Rings, Jurrasic Park, The Rule of Four, even Harry Potter--albiet some veiled prologues-- even Romeo and Juliet has a prologue.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I just finished reading Robin Hobb's Tawny Man trilogy, and just about screamed--each book had a prologue and an epilogue, and each chapter started with a lengthy italicised data dump. Gah! If I'd had any other fresh reading material in the house, I'd have quit before the end.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Prologues are more common than they're supposed to be, at least according to writing gurus (including Agent Pete) and they certainly feature heavily in crime novels.

I haven't used a prologue in any of my Cornish Detective novels, but in my WIP the opening scene is only three pages long and is set two months before the main narrative, telling of the murder of a young painter. I could have couched it as a prologue, maybe titling it as such or giving a date as the title, but instead I called it Chapter 1...though, it still looks like a prologue!

 

[Quillwitch]

Prologues are more common than they're supposed to be, at least according to writing gurus (including Agent Pete) and they certainly feature heavily in crime novels.

I haven't used a prologue in any of my Cornish Detective novels, but in my WIP the opening scene is only three pages long and is set two months before the main narrative, telling of the murder of a young painter. I could have couched it as a prologue, maybe titling it as such or giving a date as the title, but instead I called it Chapter 1...though, it still looks like a prologue!

Whatever works!

 

[Amber]

This may contradict my previous post ... because it's something I just remembered from when I was a kid/young adult and reading about four books a week.... and reading out of my weight class...

For most of my life, I haven't read prologues. I skipped them. I never felt like I missed anything. Prologues always annoyed me, especially in epic fantasies with all their maps and what seemed to me a lot of biblical begats and begots nonsense. I'm sure I never read Tolkien's prologues. It's also interesting to note, I was always able to keep up with the story. I could always figure stuff out.

Also, interesting, at least to me ... that my attitude towards prologues changed once I thought they would make it easier for me to tell a story.

It's something to consider. If you put a prologue in, the message you're sending to some people is, "This wasn't important enough to put into the body of the main manuscript." They might be wrong, but if people are going to skip anything, I'd say it's a prologue.

Or... maybe a glossary or an index.

 

[Jay Aitch]

Sorry Quillwitch, I have to challenge the suggestion that The Lord of the Rings has a prologue. It has a Foreword that describes the world of the Hobbits...and a few other things. Unless you call Bilbo's Farewell Party a prologue... but that is a stretch.

 

[Quillwitch]

Sorry Quillwitch, I have to challenge the suggestion that The Lord of the Rings has a prologue. It has a Foreword that describes the world of the Hobbits...and a few other things. Unless you call Bilbo's Farewell Party a prologue... but that is a stretch.

So, what would you say is the difference between a forward and a prologue? No, I don´t think the party could be considered a prologue. or can it? ( a veiled prologue, like in HP)?

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Like it or not, the prologue is still about. Fell by Jenn Ashowrth is a new release with a prologue -only short-

LOTR. Well, I dunno, but they're teaching the kids about the 'prologue': SparkNotes: The Fellowship of the Ring: Prologue

Generally a foreword is written by someone other than the other, introducing the book, but a prologue is always written by the author.

But LOTR has both.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

To add to the confusion, I've just started reading a collection of short stories by Salley Vickers. The Boy Who Could See Death begins with an 'Author's Note', in which she explains why she set the stories where she did, and which of her friends influenced them.

Incidentally, the unusual spelling of 'Salley' comes from it meaning willow in Irish, as used by W B Yeats in 'Down by the Salley Gardens'.

 

[WillHue]

Now that I've read all these posts, helpful btw, what is my takeaway. If you prologue and that's a big if, it should be a hook a push or a hug.

A hook meaning something maybe mysterious or tantalizing to get the reader to bite.

A push meaning some bits of necessary exposition to get the reader started.

A hug to make the reader feel welcome in your world.

I can only speak for myself as a READER but I like the mystery of being dropped in the middle of something and have to figure it out as I read. That's just me. I read em but don't care. The writer already has me, I bit, so thumbs down.

 

[DustinMax]

It would really depend on the POV of the story.

Is the first person? Close third?

If the protagonist is a fish out of water and new to the world you do not have to explain everything. Just the things they dwell upon.

 

[Charles Ott]

As a long-time science fiction reader, my threshold of pain for blocks of exposition comes pretty darn high. It seems to me you need a prologue to avoid of bunch of maid-and-butler dialogue in the first chapter. ("Maid and butler dialogue" comes from playwriting and means characters telling each other things they really ought to already know. My favorite, from Tom Stoppard (I haven't looked this up, just quoting from memory): The curtain opens on a sunny room, with a telephone ringing. The maid comes in, picks up the phone and says, "Lady Cynthia Muldoon's elegant but isolated country estate, early one morning in springtime.")

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I'm currently writing the fifth novel in my Cornish Detective series, and I have to keep reminding myself to insert exposition to account for the circumstances of my characters, for though loyal readers (who dey? ) may remember the story arc of my detective protagonist, who was widowed seven years before, someone new to the series requires help in finding their way.

As I previously commented, this involves some repetition of information, even saying exactly the same thing, but I hope that this will cement the image of my characters in people's minds.

 

[Tim James]

The danger of having a prologue that is labelled as such in a children's book, (which I think is what you said you are writing) is that they might not realise it is part of the story and therefore just skip it. Children can be very impatient readers!
For a children's book I think I would just go with calling it Chapter 1. Just don't make it too long or heavy reading.

 

[Deleted member 604]

@Paul Whybrow
Your a writer of detective stories, so you know the importance of operative writing but at the same time the element of surprise.
I don't know, If its just me but I found in detective/murder mystery stories, ones I have read the crime always happens first.
After that, as the writer you keep the suspense going, planting subtle and sure clues in your prose, dialogue etc.
Of who the murderer could be, it could be one suspect or several and also there are more murders as the story moves along.
If you feel the use of a prologue would move your story forwards not backwards, use it.