I think I may have been the last one to (re)release a prologue, so I'll
exercise my right(need) to be an opinionated bastard.

At 08:53 PM 21/06/98 -0400, miashara@juno.com wrote:

I'm going to make this short and to the point. Why do you write a prelude
or a 
prologue to a fic? 

To garner interest in a story. A prologue should do something to have 
readers say 'Wow, I want to read this' without really giving any 'story-meat',
while Chapter One should be a setup, or the salami in the sandwich of plot.
(Hmm... why do I feel hungry all of a sudden...)

Besides Knights of the Saber, I did this for I'm Here to Help, and also One 
Hundred Percent Woman(although in 100%'s case, it was as a call for
prereaders); 
to me, the idea of asking for C&C on a short slice from a story is so that you 
can hear other people's thoughts and opinions, proceed to ignore them(^_^)... 
no, actually, hearing other people's thoughts allows you to gather the various 
ideas you have for the story in your head, allowing you a way of deciding just 
where you're going, and so on.

Unless it's suposed to be a short fic, or a fic with short pointless
little chapters, 
why wouldn't you write a full chapter for posting? 

Because a lot of writers are not completely self-driven. They feel they need
to know that there is a readership base out there for what they're doing. 
Otherwise, they feel, what's the point in writing? Self-purpose? Can't agree, 
I've given my opinions on this before; I don't write because I enjoy it per se, 
I write because it gives enjoyment to others, and I'm sure there are others
like me. So, if a writer wants to feel that what they are doing has worth, 
they might also release a prologue to get physical evidence(replies) of 
readership interest.

People, when you're writing, while knowing the
initial 
premise is nice, it's also very important to see how it affects the
characters. 

That's not the point of a prologue, that's the point of the story.
While you may be more interested in the story that follows, why did you
read the story in the first place? Do you read them all? Then you have more
time and patience than me; a prologue usually only does two things: it
sets the tone for the story(maybe giving away hints of what's going to
happen/who the characters are), and it _gains reader interest_. It's a 
glorified commercial, there to rope in the viewers. 

************  
Mark Doherty  -  mdoherty@uq.net.au
My spam/fanfics are at - 
http://www.tass.org/~mdoherty/index.html

Everything I learned, I learned from fanfics No. 7:
Every anime female is bisexual. Unless, of course, they're a lesbian.