Forum: Author Hangout

I still don't understand why a reader would skip a prologue.

I bet 90% of the teenagers on wattpad skip the prologue (or so they say). They want to get into the story. Also, many prologues are written as a boring info dump.

I still don't understand why a reader would skip a prologue. They probably don't understand that it's an (essential) introduction to the rest of the story.
Call it Chapter 0 and they probably won't skip it :D

It's common knowledge that very few readers will bother with a prologue, or even worse, a foreword. Even in Science Fiction, a genre that depends heavily on them, only 30% will ever read it, which is why many authors avoid them altogether (dispersing the information throughout the story, a tidbit at a time so it's more easily absorbed).

But as far as Swtich's point, I frequently get that kind of complaint because I often include serious post-coital discussions between my characters about the central story conflict. So all the readers who blithely skim (i.e. skip) over erotic contend frequently get lost. That's one reason why, while still the most popular of what I write, I've largely decided to avoid them. It's just not worth the grief from readers.

If someone doesn't understand something after skipping a quarter of a chapter, you'd think they'd back up to see what they missed. Yet, instead, they assume the author left essential details out of the story, and there's NO point in arguing with them over it. :(

Most readers skip a prologue.

That might be true for SciFi/Fantasy if the prologue contains lots of detailed exposition for the sake of world building. However in crime and thrillers, the prologue is mostly used either as a teaser or to reveal a historic inciting event - I can't imagine many readers skipping those.

On the other hand, forewords often have no involvement in actually telling the story and I usually skip them.

AJ

forewords often have no involvement in actually telling the story and I usually skip them.

Ouch! I just wrote my first foreword. LOL

I recently read two novels that had an author's note at the end. One was a Grisham novel about the stealing of the original Fitzgerald manuscripts from a university. In the notes he admits he made all that up. The second was the novel I just finished. He says he made up some things, like a certain airplane, and that his technique for blowing up the plane was made up so he's not telling terrorists how to do it. It made sense to put that at the end.

Why did I write a foreword for this novel? Westerns aren't very popular today so I wanted to let readers know it's not a typical Western. It was the time period that's important. The other thing had to do with pantaloons being crotchless. I didn't want the reader to think I was nuts as he read the story (thinking I put crotchless panties in a story that takes place in 1882). But you're right, people will skip it like they skip the copyright information right before it.

But at least I learned how to spell "foreword." :)

Ouch! I just wrote my first foreword.

Me too!

I decided there wasn't enough room in the description to explain to readers all the reasons why they shouldn't read my story. And I'm not clever enough to set up a story page with the text. So a Foreword it is. At least the warnings are somewhere, even though readers will probably skip over them :(

AJ

I decided there wasn't enough room in the description to explain to readers all the reasons why they shouldn't read my story.

In my case, despite not including the controversial content in the story description, I knew that few readers would care for that aspect of the story, so I felt it necessary to explain why I felt it worth elaborating and exploring, as it's just one of those things that I needed to work through.

If readers are engaged by the story, then they'll probably be interested in the forward. But since few people will even get past reading the description, that's expecting a lot. :(

forewords often have no involvement in actually telling the story and I usually skip them.

Ouch! I just wrote my first foreword. LOL

I did too, though mine (for my current and next story to post) detailed why I was driven to write the story, so while not essential to reading the story, it does provide context for understanding why the author finds it compelling.

detailed why I was driven to write the story, so while not essential to reading the story

My foreword has nothing to do with the story. It's not like a prologue. It simply tells the reader why I wrote a Western and that it was fiction and may not be historically correct. I did throw in that pantaloons were open in the crotch which many people might not know (it comes up often throughout the story).

Most readers skip a prologue. But a good-written prologue provides necessary information to understand the story. So when a reader skips it, they get lost in the story. Is that the fault of the author or the reader? The reader, of course.

I am just one of those authors that simply does not use them. Rather, I prefer to start a story kind of like "Hill Street Blues" or "ER". Throw the reader right into it, then if needed fill things in as I go through either flashbacks (Bohica) or through the characters talking about the past (Country Boy).

Myself, I tend to find most prologues dull, unless there is something critically needed prior to reading or the person will be completely confused. Like telling the reader the story takes place in an underground world of cat people that had never seen the light of day. Otherwise, the description of a tail and agoraphobia if they are thrown into the surface world would make no sense.

I also skip most sex scenes because most seem to be copy and paste action.

Those authors should be directed to Diana Gabaldon's "How to write sex scenes."

She isn't the first to say what she says, but she says it very very (or "verra," if you're an Outlander fan) well.

My spouse, a rabid fan, says Gabaldon does what she says. Frequently. I haven't read all that much of the series, but Gabaldon's scenes are hot. And sometimes very detailed. (ETA: Gabaldon says "vivid," not "detailed.")

~ JBB

Those authors should be directed to Diana Gabaldon's "How to write sex scenes."

Suppose you're a woman who, for example, enjoys getting her nipples sucked. If you visit an erotic story site looking for stories in which women get their nipples sucked, wouldn't you be disappointed to find stories written to Diana Gabaldon's rules?

Mind you, I'm not sure there are many stories on SOL, written from the woman's point of view, about the sensations and feelings of having one's nipples sucked but I'm sure there's room for more.

AJ

And sometimes very detailed. (ETA: Gabaldon says "vivid," not "detailed.")

That would be verra, verra vivid, Viginia. ;)

I also skip most sex scenes because most seem to be copy and paste action.

If well executed, sex scenes are deeply revealing about the characters, as they advance the relationship between characters. Unfortunately on SOL, they're mostly tossed in because the author gets bored (or thinks they're expected), not realizing that the sex in most stories substantially drops off the further you get into a story, as it's simply repeating the same details, over and over about different people.

For me, if I have characters who aren't forthcoming, or where I'm not quite sure what they're thinking, I'll often throw them into bed to see what they reveal after the sex is all over, as that's when most people reveal the most intimate details about themselves. As such, the serious discussions apres sex often key me--the author--into what the character's are thinking, and thus are significant events in the story itself. The sex is just a way of getting there, but the discussions afterwards are much more important (for me at least) than the piston A goes into sluts B, C and D details.

I also have some complain that I include to many things other than sex.

That's why I liked the old definition of "stroke" — no plot. It differentiated "much sex" from "stroke."

That is what I liked about Dual Writer's Vacation?

You're unsure what you like about his stories?

When you get negative feedback, don't respond. It's just not worth the hassle. Just tune it out and move on.

Though that's generally good advice, I frequently get excellent information about stories (that typically makes it into the sequels), and I always get the most insights from those who argue with me, but there's a process to get beyond what they initially complain about.

Generally, if someone is going to write you, it's not about a specific detail, but with either the plot or your writing style, and encouraging them to expound of their complaints (with a few well chosen prompts) helps to uncover what their underlying complaint is. Few readers will spend much time analyzing their own dissatisfaction, so other than "you said X and page Y" you won't get much. To get more details about why their frustrated with your writing, you generally have to dig it out by hand. :(

It's a pain, but in the end, you learn a lot from such direct, detailed feedback, and those bitching about your stories are engaged enough to spend the time exploring those issues, whereas most readers will NEVER stop to comment at all.

I sometimes take negative comments of my writing as a complement.

When I wrote and posted my first chapter or two of "Bohica", I got many attacks of writing a "gay" story. Even though if you read them, it is apparent that things are not as they might seem. I simply wrote them off as the commenter being an idiot and not reading into what I wrote (I gave MANY clues that the narrator was female).

I find most that criticize stpries are idiots. They never write themselves, and only lash out at stories they do not like because they are not going as they wish.

I get so many comments like that I ignore most of them. Like having a character fuck his girlfriends mother and sister, or have a character fuck her dog. I write as I wish, like it or not. I (and I encoirage you) do the same, do not write for the "Peanut Gallery".

In other words, " Stay true to yourself".

do not write for the "Peanut Gallery".

Those would be stories where the characters fuck for peanuts! :)