The antagonist in Kiliane’s Rage, my work-in-progress, created an interesting problem for me. He is an egotistical individual with aspirations to greatness. The problem is how to introduce his backstory which is important to understanding his aspirations.

I considered writing his early story in a prologue. But I have read several craft writers who recommend against a prologue. They have varied reasons but the one I note most is that the prologue could be woven into the story proper. This seems valid but the pacing of a story might not allow for a timeout to do backstory. The places where the antagonist appears in the Kiliane’s Rage are forward moving appearances. His desire to relive prior experiences taunts me to slow the pace just to suit him. They would bring the storyline to a timeout. I did not include timeouts in the outline.

Another option I am exploring is to present the antagonist first and protagonist later. A delay in bringing the protagonist allows the antagonist the opportunity to establish his space in the story. The present story has the protagonist introduced in the first scene. The antagonist also makes an appearance in this scene but is seen through the protagonist’s eyes. Once story rolls, he has a problem finding a good time to tell me why he is not totally evil.

Writing this post has introduced a prospect that I had not explored. I mapped a story where the protagonist solves the plot problem and the antagonist is vanquished. The story is told from the protagonist’s point-of-view. Telling Kiliane’s Rage from the antagonist’s POV may have merits. He has the opportunity to show why he is destroying the world and create concern he will not be stopped. Is it mandated he be stopped? Maybe the world he lives in deserves to be destroyed.

Have you had a WIP where you changed the POV from protagonist to antagonist or other way? I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on the value of prologues. Use the follow to be informed of new posts. Comments also welcomed.

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