Prologue question

Okay, so for my fic I am writing, I am in the midst of writing the prologue. Now I'm wondering if I should either have a 'back in time' scene in the prologue for clarity of the rest of the story, or if I should have it in some point in the actual story.

The other option was to just keep it in real time, where I'd keep it in the same day, as part of the prologue, will also be in today's time. If this way is preferred, I will bring in Ash and Co.

This is a question I think all writers ask themselves when they think about writing a prologue for their story. Any of the options are possible.

I set the prologue for my story in the past and it pretty much explains why the events later on in the story will take place.

If you were to set it in the future, I guess you could just write about an event that is going to happen later on in the story. Or, make it like an epilogue, just putting it at the start instead.

If you were going to set in present time, you could write about the event that will kick start the story. Other than that, I don't think there's much else you could do with that option.

Sorry about being vague, but I don't have time to write a detailed reply at the moment.

Hmmm yeah, because I do want to include events in the present that will kick off the story (not in regards to Ash and co.), but I also want to include the past event, perhaps as though the characters in the prologue (again not Ash and co.) would introduce them.

Sorry if I am being vague myself, I'd like to keep it that way, so as to not have spoilers running amuck :P

My preferred way to do a prologue is starting with a scene from the climax, then progressing through the story from the beginning, starting in Chapter 1. I love to use the prologue as a bit of a teaser :P. If it's done well anyway, I have big problems with the "well" part so usually I just do away with the prologue completely. My stillborn 7 Days 7k project had that kinda start. :(

Of course, it all depends on the story and it elements, twists and theme, so you gotta go with your gut. Think out a couple of them; if there's something you want to give to readers that you don't want in the middle of the story, a back in time bit might work out for the best.

You know, the best way to really do a prologue is to have it be as arcane or distant as possible from the beginning of the actual story. At least, that's the typical set up for mine. I personally can't stand it when people lead into the first chapter or have the prologue take place some time into the story because it's not really a prologue then (not by definition anyways...).

Hmm interesting.

Yeah so I decided to go with the past, and now portions, without introducing the main characters yet (Ash and co.), as right now it doesn't look like a canon fic XD

But yeah, I wanted a clincher in the prologue, and I hope it does pique people's interest.

Yeah, my novel's prologue is set two years before the rest of the story XD. In between the two my main character fakes his own suicide and moves to another country.

Sparkling Dragon said:

Yeah, my novel's prologue is set two years before the rest of the story XD. In between the two my main character fakes his own suicide and moves to another country.

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Yeah, this type of stuff sets up better character interest, which is really the point of any good prologue, I think. For instance, Feral Twilight's prologue takes place over twenty years before the actual story starts, with one of the my main characters as a grad student finishing her dissertation and the projects associated with it. Of course, there's more to it than that, but I was just trying to give an example of how it makes people wonder what happens in the time after.