Why use prelude instead of prologue?

[Ankari]

I'm a fan of prologues. This debate has been going on since I joined these forums. Slowly, I've come to understand why a prologue should rarely be used. If you're writing a story set in a modern time, but want to write a prologue to show what happened 100/1,000/10,000 years ago, that is back story. Find a way to insert it into the story through setting or dialogue.

Currently, I'm of the opinion that prologues should be used to tie books of a series together. A recap of previous events so the reader doesn't have to reread all of the previous books to keep up with the current book.

 

[skip.knox]

Anything good can be done badly. Prologues aren't intrinsically good or intrinsically bad.

What happens with me as a reader is I'm looking to engage with the story. Far too often, the prologue has one of two effects on me. One, if it's the History of the World kind of prologue, I simply don't get engaged. There's no immediacy, no conflict, just backstory.

Two, a character does engage me. These are usually prologues that center on a specific event. I get drawn in to the drama. Then I turn the page and it's Chapter One, and none of those characters are on stage any more. As a reader, I have to start again. It feels, regardless of what the author intended, very much like a "and then he woke up" kind of story. I thought it was about one thing, but now it's about something else.

As a writer, I totally get it. I find myself drawn to writing prologues, especially because I have a created world in which I've written multiple stories and I really want the reader to know that all these stories take place in the same world. I have to keep reminding me that the reader isn't here for the world, he's here for the story. So far, none of my prologues have made it to the finish line.