Thoughts about writing a novel?
How do should you incorporate "backstory" (background information about the underling premises of the plot) into a book/series?
Should all (or a great majority) of the backstory be put into like a prologue. Or perhaps a character who knows of the backstory can reveal it during the first few chapters?
Or should the backstory be revealed slow and steady through the book/series? But wouldn't that be a harder novel to write? ----- would it necessarily be a "better" novel if written this way?
I'm planning on writing a novel, and I would like to hear your thoughts about what approach seems better from an audience's perspective.
Note: I hear prologues are "outdated" and that authors and the writing community tend to stay away from them, but wouldn't a prologue introduce "necessary information" for the plot to move forward. You can just reveal everything upfront and then your story can progress linearly from there, right? What's so wrong with that? Can someone explain why prologues are "discouraged"?
6 Comments • Newest first
idk what's wrong with a prologue. it's efficient and it works
stanley kubrick wasnt afriad to use a narrator in his films. so go, my child, become the kubrick of the novel
i see nothing bad with a prologue. honestly, this is the first time i have heard of this discouragement. personally, i like having the background info gradually getting revealed. although i do enjoy having it told in the beginning to let the reader understand what is going on.
@UAPaladin
Audience: Children/YA (but anyone can read it)
Genre/Type: Contemporary Sci-fi/Fantasy (elements of coming of age/character growth, self-sacrifice, lessons of life, stuff, etc etc.). Lol. XD
Very vague. I know. Lots of books like that. LOL.
Good luck on writing your book! I'm working on writing my own right now too; it's a lot of work.
As to how to reveal backstory, there's a ton of ways to do it, and all of them are completely valid. You just need to go with whatever feels right for your story. To get a sense of what to do, read some of the more famous books of the genre that you're writing in. I generally like only a tiny bit of backstory in the prologue though - just enough to introduce the premise of the book. After that, I usually think slow and steady is the best, but again, just go with what you feel would fit the best.
Out of curiosity, what type of novel is it?
I thought a @GreatRomantic would know something like this
You write a story without backstory which will make people a bit confused. Then tell people you're going to unconfuse them by selling a prequel.