Twilight: Questions, Answers, Questions

Bill Johnson reviews the opening preface to the novel Twilight to explore how readers are engaged and pulled forward to turn the first page. He explores a process he calls Question, Answer, Question; that using a first sentence of a novel to raise a question, and using a second to begin to answer that first question while raising a second question. Bill is the author of A Story is a Promise and Deep Characterization, and webmaster of Essays on the Craft of Dramatic Writing! at http://www.storyispromise.com. Bill is a produced playwright and an optioned screenwriter. He has taught at writing conferences around the U.S.

Bill is author of A Story is a promise (http://www.storyispromise)

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Twilight
• Stephenie
• Meyer
• Bill
• Johnson
• Story
• is
• Promise
• Deep
• Characterization
• vampires
• craft
• of
• writing

[OregonWritersSpeak]

This prolog operates as a hook to get the attention of readers and pull them forward into the story. Because the first chapter operates to introduce the main character's new world and what led her there, the hook has a stronger pull.

The problem for prologs in general is when they operate to introduce a particular character or the character's back story. That kind of writing is dramatically inert and is an underlying reason some reader's would just skip over a prolog.

[fanchonlivengoodat47]

New Moon was cool ! I have seen this movie the first time at twilight-now [dot] com

[NealeSourna]

I saw the film before reading the books, and my first idea--in reading the Prologue--was that it was film editing.

The brief tantalizing teaser at the beginning to get you to realize, oh, it's not just some teen whining about her devastatingly cute boyfriend; but something that is life and death and even spiritual.

I was glad for it.

Mushy stuff--and dear Bella is a mushy, mis-thinking lover, who is at her best when she BRAVELY FEELS, not thinks.

The prologue immediate says this. Great hook.

[ScottieDM]

Some don't read a preface or prologue, although this sounds like a temptingly short one. However, some readers will even skip a two-line quote that appears between "Chapter 1" and the first paragraph of the story, especially if it's set in italics.

Wouldn't it be better to turn this into the opening scene? Sure there's may be a huge jump in time or place after the scene break, but that's okay (IMO). Or one could simply label the preface "Chapter 1" to get every reader to read it.