Is this okay to do??

Question

Is it okay to write a prologue in Third Person and then to write the rest of the story in First Person??

Thanks for any help

xoxo

Answer 1

     Certainly.  It's often a good thing to do, actually, especially if you're writing a fairly 'sprawling' piece.  I've begun a novel on the First Crusade, and that's exactly what I'm doing.  The first person voice is that of a monk, writing years later, but because it's such a vast subject, I write the beginning of the chapters in third person to describe all the action, the political implications, etc.

Good luck

Mike B

Answer 2

Why not?  I have no idea what a literary critic might say about it but I wouldn't care either.  I think the "rules" of literature cannot be so black and white as to impair an authors creativity.  Write your story as you see it and if you like the outcome, it is good.  A prologue after all is nothing more than an introduction and aren't all personal introductions made by a third party?  I think it would be fine, go for it.

Answer 3

should be fine as long as you make the change clear xx

Answer 4

Summer,

The prologue is a separate entity from the book in a way. Here, you give your readers an idea of what they're getting into, or what happened before hand. It's quite all right to do it that way. I've done it where the prologue was in first person and the story in third. I simply related back to the happenings at the time. Then, I went back to first person after a scene break. It worked out fine and the story was accepted in an anthology.

Good luck!

Answer 5

As long you indicate that you are changing it :)

Answer 6

Yes, it's 'okay'. When you're writing you have full literary license to do as you like. Just go for it.

Answer 7

Absolutely. I've been writing shifting perspective narratives for five years now. As long as you make the changes clear then you can do what the heck you want.

When writing for pleasure, the only rule is to do what pleases you. When writing commercially, the only rule is to do what pleases the reader. If you are very lucky, then you can do both.

Try Simon Kernick's 'Relentless,'- A good lesson in how to do it.

Answer 8

Yes, that is completely fine as long as you try to do it in a non-confusing manner that your readers will understand. :)