What TV Watching Taught Me About Writing

There’s a little bit of a discussion going on about prologues, among other things – love ’em, hate ’em, ignore ’em… it seems everyone has an opinion about them.

I spent nearly 10 years as a film and TV reviewer. I have watched a lot of television, which has also made be aware of cinematic structure and it is something that is a subconscious part of my writing.

Personally I love prologues – as long as they serve a purpose. In the case of Moonstone Obsession, a seemingly unrelated incident – the wreck of The Pandora – serves as the catalyst for all of the action which takes place after. It is the narrative drive.

The best way to think of it is the opening of your favourite TV detective series. You see the crime take place and nothing of your hero and heroine, the rest of the 40 minutes or so centres on walking alongside the detective putting together the pieces which solves the puzzle.

I know romance is a little bit different, in that the main focus is on the developing relationship between the hero and the heroine but a wider story arc provides the reader with the opportunity to see how our couple will react to circumstances beyond their control. How will that affect their relationship? What depth will it add?

The second type of prologue is one I have used in Warrior’s Surrender and in Moonstone Conspiracy, where it is a flashback to a past incident.

In Warrior’s Surrender, the incident provides context for the major narrative driver. This time the hero and heroine appear but at a much earlier time of their lives, but reader can see in ‘real time’ how that pivotal moment colours their perceptions and actions in the present.

Moonstone Conspiracy is a little different and can be considered like opening of a drama – you know the type: ‘Last time on Revenge…‘ in which a reader is reminded of action from a previous story or a new reader gets enough of the back story to make sense of what is to come.

Prologues should plunge the reader into action – even if it leaves them a little confused at first.

After that, TV dramas typically follow the three act structure. And, if you’re interested, I have a post on it here.

Then there is the epilogue, where everything is wrapped up neatly. My favourite retro TV series FBI and Dragnet used it quite consciously, in both series we find out what happened to the villains – usually lengthy jail sentences and it gave us a sense of closure.

In TV land, it was only about 5 minutes in length before the closing credits and, if you’re lucky, a preview of next week’s episode.

For me, an epilogue in a romance, particularly in a historical romance is the opportunity to say one last good bye to the characters and the location you’ve fallen in love with. It’s a final reassurance that those two crazy, mixed up kids are gonna do all right.

So, where does that leave us:

• Prologue
  • opening credits
  • commercial break
• Act 1
  • commercial break
• Act 2
  • commercial break
• Act 3
  • commercial break
• Epilogue
  • closing credits

It’s a common dramatic structure which has stood the test of time. While a series can work just fine without  an epilogue and a prologue – and indeed the comparison between a TV series and a book is not an exact one – it is further proof that there is only one rule that needs to be followed: tell a good story and pace it well.