To Prologue… more than once? #IWSG

I know prologues are considered one of those deadly sins of writings, but it’s one of the “rules” I’m willing to break. But what if I have two prologues for the same story?

I’ve read books with multiple prologues. They don’t bother me. But I’ve encountered people who assume prologue == bad writing. They immediately cast judgement without sampling the writing. Thus stems my insecurity. With these people despising prologues, it makes me wonder what the reaction would be to having more than one.

I have my reasons for this. One takes place 3 centuries earlier, and the POV character isn’t used again. This seems perfect fodder for prologue material. The second one takes place 20 days before chapter 1, but it definitely takes place before the story begins. The reasons for it being a prologue and not chapter 1 isn’t apparent until around chapter 14 (if the reader is good at figuring things out, 19 if not). But there is a reason.

Too bad it doesn’t rid me of my insecurities.

So I’m looking for opinions. Should I have 2 prologues? How many people would that turn off? Should I combine the two and separate them with a scene break and 3 Centuries Later…? I’ve been calling my first prologue an Introduction, but that seems to create more confusion.

About Insecure Writer’s Support Group



You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.

The post To Prologue… more than once? #IWSG appeared first on Squirrel Talk.