So what is a prologue? A prologue is an introduction to a story and is meant to grab the reader's attention. That does not mean that those are the only jobs of the prologue. Prologue Test
Leave it out. Is there something important missing in your story? Now change the title to Chapter One. Does it screw up the plot? Yes on both questions? Keep it. Otherwise, kill it with fire.
No-nos
Do not infodump. EVER. Enough said.
It has absolutely nothing to do with the story. What the heck is it doing there then?!
Its only purpose is to grab the reader's attention. Why can't you do that in Chapter One? A prologue isn't an excuse to have an info-dumpy first chapter. Why should we keep reading if you tricked us with a super exciting prologue, just to read some boring spiel about this character doing that? *picks up pitchfork* The author is a filthy liar!
It's too long and overly-detailed. Damn, it's not a flipping x thousand word essay. Try to keep it short.
It's written in a totally different style from the story. It won't fit. It's like trying to shove a square piece into a triangle hole in a child's puzzle.
It's there to set the mood...why would you do it twice? You have to do the same thing in Chapter One.
Hell Yeah!
The prologue should always be written in the same style as the story, otherwise, it won't fit. Remember the child's puzzle.
Treat the prologue like a short story, but the resolution must be in the story. This is how you'll make the readers continue. You're not Shakespeare, so don't spoil the ending.
The prologue should start with a strong and intriguing hook as if it were
the only beginning of the novel. This does not mean you can have a boring ass Chapter One. No one's going to keep reading after that.
Well, I hope this little list helped you. Happy prologue writing/cutting!
So after my stressful week of finishing projects (CompSci videogame, English essay and History magazine), I get a Pre-Cal exam on Monday afternoon. But I do get this Friday and the rest of next week off. \(>0<)/
To celebrate the completion of my projects, here are some links to tutorials from my boards on Pinterest. I'll post regularly now that my stressful classes are almost done and hopefully be more productive in terms of crafting.
Mobile Casey and Stripy Jack phone and iPhone cases from Genuine Mudpie. I'm thinking of modifying this pattern into a panda for my friend. I'm worried about her naked iPhone, since her iPod's screen shattered horribly. I'll let you guys know if I ever do this.
A star stitch crochet hook case from Alli Crafts. Too bad I only have two crochet hooks, one of which is MIA.
The West Lynn Headwrap from Emily K(nits, watches and writes). Mother's Day present? I don't like wearing headwraps, but I like this.My mom would probably like this too.
Monster pudding cups from Zui Blog. If only I liked pudding...yes I know, it's horrifying. Well, I am Kaye Dominique.
This won't be the last tutorials post, since I have almost 300 pins...yeah, I'm addicted to pinning.
*trumpets* In this corner, weighing x pounds, I give you our challenger...THE WRITER! And in the other corner, weighing at two hundred tonnes, our champion, WRITER'S BLOCK! *wild cheers*
*Clears throat* I'm done now.
Writer's block. When your muse abandons you in favour of a long vacation to Holiday Isle. When you end up staring at a blank page or a Word document, thinking...getting frustrated...and finally practicing those shooting techniques you picked up from Death the Kid. Just me? Psh, you guys are no fun.
There is no instant cure for writer's block, sadly. Here are the different types of writer's block, and what might cure them.
Type 1: "Go bald, Kurosaki!"
Okay, so you've been really busy because life just demands your constant attention. When you finally get some time to travel to your own world, you find that you can't write anything. As a result, you've gone and ripped your hair out. (The title's from a manga called Dengeki Daisy.)
Brain fart. Don't criticize yourself. Write whatever comes to mind and delete the document right after. No one has to see it. It's just to get the creative juices flowing.
Writing exercises. Go to the mall and people watch. Yes, it sounds a little creepy, but you'll find people that pique your interest. Write stories for them. Go on the Internet and search for writing prompts. You might come out of this with a couple of nice short stories.
Take a break. Learn something new, like making amigurumi (I`ll show you guys my unfinished Link doll in another post). Draw your characters, if you can. Walk your dog, cat or fish. (=^x^=) Just focus on something else for a while. Playing Minecraft might help.
Wait it out. Nothing works better than this one. It might take weeks, maybe a few months, but you'll come back with a fresh mind and new ideas. If you're like me, you'll return and start writing a chapter a day.
Type 2: Trapped in Bedrock
Sorry, that's a Minecraft joke. Anyway, you're stuck on one part of your story. You can't figure out what you want to happen next. Here's what you can do:
Skip it. Write another scene and come back later. Who knows, you might come up with something mind-blowing.
Play the What If? game. What if this character died? (Use death by prose with caution.) What if this character did something that goes completely against their personality? What if two main guys hooked up? Go crazy. (Don't actually add the craziest stuff in your story...unless it works with it.)
Write a short story expanding on your novel. If you're familiar with Bakuman, the two main characters went back on their work and created a standalone that's not really a standalone. What that means is that the short story takes a seemingly insignificant thing from the novel and expands on it. Watch Durarara episodes 12 and 12.5 for an example. You probably don't need to watch the previous episodes to understand it.
Find quotes online. Maybe all you need is a prompt to get you going. Go on pinterest.com and search for quotes. Search on Google. Just find that perfect prompt and use it.
Type 3: "This is Stupid."
We all have those days where we can't stop criticizing everything we write. Some have it every time they sit down to write. How do you turn it off?
Edit and revise. Go back to your earlierchapters and use that critic in your brain to better your story. Whatever you do, don't give in to the urge to completely rewrite! You'll never finish a story if you keep doing this. Just keep the new idea somewhere safe.
Critique. Be a helpful inkie and free read or swap. Others could use a critical eye on their work. Critiquing others' work will help you pick up mistakes and errors in your own work, so this helps you as well.
Focus on other writing-related things. Fill out a character profile. Talk to your characters. Draw them like one of your French girls! (I'm just kidding, but if you feel up to the challenge, I'm not stopping you.) Plan out your story. Write outlines. Anything you can think of that's related to writing.
Writer's block is inevitable. Everyone gets them from time to time. You just have to learn how to deal with it your own way. As always, being insane helps!
I'll say good night now, since it's 3:17 AM here. Night night, and I hope this helped!
I haven't played Minecraft in a while (due to stress-induced mental breakdowns). By the way, those are either disturbing or mentally-scarring. I start crying and laughing at the same time while spouting whatever nonsense comes to mind.
Anyway...y'know that animal pen? My sister had a decent idea (for once) and told me to build this:
Animal Pool
The stairs!
Inside the underground barn. Still have to fix the zombie problem though.
Not too far away (I'm not kidding, just turn around and walk a couple steps), I built a boathouse for some odd reason. Being a perfectionist, I started freaking out over the roof and its asymmetry.
Boathouse
Boathouse - water side
I also went on a trip to the Nether. I was very disappointed and wanted to torch everything...then I saw the flaw in my logic.
Nether Portal
Once I'm done with all the exams, I'm dragging my dad to EB Games. I want Assassin's Creed!
I swear my brain's going to be fried by the end of this month. Pre-Cal and French exams, English essay, History magazine project and a finished game for Computer Science.
I'm going to DIE! But at least I'll have one and a half spares next semester. I can come late and leave early in an alternating pattern.
Yesterday was not fun. Stumbling around, walking into stuff and tripping. Apparently, I shouldn't sleep early because it put my body into some type of shock. Who got to stay home and feel nauseous all day? This kid! And we had a quiz and test today that I didn't find out about until I walked into the classroom.
I'm seriously entertained by the fact that the Durarara!! section of fanfiction.net has new and updated stories everyday. And most of them are actually good! Yay for Shizaya! They're my new OTP, Yullen/Arekan comes at a close second. I just love their hate/hate relationships...
My sister asked me what the heck was wrong with me because I started crying randomly. I was in the living room.
But y'know what else? I got inspiration from this song. It fits Retrace's story line, so I can use this as a guide for the first chapter.
Before we get to the actual tips, I have to show you guys something. Watch the video.
Don't you wish you were that talented? My walls wouldn't be plain and boring if that was the case...
***
Please excuse my language.
Now then, I'm going to tell you guys how my characters got to the point where they are now. I don't want to say perfect, but definitely not 2D and fake. There's no such thing as a perfect character, just like there's no such thing as a perfect person in real life. In fiction, they're called Mary Sues and Gary Stus. In real life, I like to call them fake-ass bitches. (OwO)
I'm not a professional. I'm in no way claiming that this is the right way to characterize. This is just what works for me.
Imagine a character. Just a blank character that you're going to fill in with me. If you're having trouble picturing a blank character, use this guy:
I hate making lists. But if that's how you do things, then go right ahead. List the defining characteristics for your character. If you already have a flat character or just someone you think might be in danger of being 2D, use them. Fill out a character sheet if that helps. I just like sticking traits onto blank people like the one above. Do that literally if you want. Print him out and stick Post-Its with traits written on them.
You might have something like a girl who's super nice or maybe an asshole kind of guy who everyone just adores. Why are they like that? Why is the girl nice? Why is the guy a jerk but everyone loves him? Why?
Don't give me something like, "Well, that's their personality." That's not a good enough answer.
You have to explain why they're like that. Otherwise, I'm not going to sympathize with them. A character doesn't have to be likeable to be a good character. They have to be believable.
Shall I take Jaeden Isaac as an example?
Let's see, Jaeden has a pretty exotic-looking appearance, but his attitude is just awful. Pretty on the outside, ugly on the inside. He's my take on the "tall, dark, handsome stranger" and the "insufferable ass". Sounds like your typical male lead from a paranormal romance novel, huh?
What makes Jaeden different from the PR novel dudes? Why should you like him?
Well, unless you're screwed up in the head, you wouldn't get near the guy. He's not likeable. The man tries to kill his "best friend" Nathan on a regular basis, for God's sakes! To support his side of the argument, Nathan loves pissing Jaeden off. As in dyeing underwear pink annoying. Jaeden happens to be a trigger-happy bastard and has a temperance as cool as the sun. What makes him different? He's not just pretending to be tough. He doesn't just claim he'll kill you. He will. With a spork. ("I like sporks. You can stab someone's eyes out with them and scoop them out after.")
Despite his...prickliness, Jaeden has a few redeeming traits. He does care for a few people to an extent (and then brushes it off with some callous response because he's Jaeden). He took a shot for Nathan...and called him a thrice-damned idiot while he was about to lose consciousness. I don't think everyone's perfectly balanced. For every good aspect, there's a bad counterpart. No, I don't believe that. If I listed all of Jaeden's good traits and put his bad traits next to them, I'm sure that the bad side would be longer.
Let's change the question to, "Why is he believable?" A villain isn't born evil. Their life shapes them into what they are. With that in mind, we can shape our own characters. How does their past affect them now?
Showing any sort of weakness is deadly in his world. You rely on someone, that person could stab you when you're down. He had to grow up tough and show a brave face to the world. Now that he's relatively safe, he can't figure out how to take that mask off. He doesn't know how to interact with people, nor does he care enough to learn. He's in a war. You don't have enough time to learn basic human interaction. Just shoot your enemies in the head and get it over with.
I'll tell you something useful. You can take people from real life and base your characters on them. When you watch a show, movie, drama or anime, pick a character and ask yourself why you believe their motives and personality. What makes them human? Just keep asking yourself questions like that.
Talking to fictional people in your head is optional, but it's seriously entertaining. Especially if your characters are all psychopathic and violent.
To Summarize:
Take a character, blank or otherwise.
List their traits
Balance (don't make a character completely good or completely evil, but don't make them completely neutral)
Why are those traits believable?
Optional: Talk to them
I hope this helped somewhat. I'm sorry for my mouth. m(_ _)m
Probably a stupid idea if I'm going to be relocating soon, but it was entertaining. This is the view from my treehouse. You can see my wheat and melon farm, as well as the animal pen. I think I'm going to grow a bunch of sugarcane so I can make bookcases and an enchanting table.
Treehouse View
I made them a little drinking hole in the corner. Apparently, they thought it was hot tub time.
Animal Pen
This is the arch and pathway to my treehouse. It's made out of Nether fence...I think.
Arch
I tried out a new texture pack. It's called the Sphax PureBDCraft. But since Kaye's an idiot and the patcher wouldn't work, I had to take it off because it was glitching.
Texture Pack
That's a little mob party that I soon murdered. I'm also known to burn pigs and sheep to death and play tag with creepers. And there's that one time I drowned a cow.
Peanut butter jelly time!
Aww...look at the sheep family! They're so cute. That's Mr. and Mrs. Phillip, and Phillip Jr.
Sheep Family!
Diamond and Obsidian tip: go to layer 10 (hit bedrock, count up 10 levels) and bring a bucket of water (extra water buckets are encouraged). Turn the lava lakes into obsidian so you won't die a painful and fiery death. I found 16 diamonds wandering around this layer only. Also, try to find abandoned mine shafts and wander around there. That's how I got 40 diamonds in one trip.
