Well, I was going to title this post as “Slicing and Dicing”, but after actually doing what I needed to do in my prologue and first chapter, it is more about adding pieces to tie in the early pages for the reader and to then enlighten them going forward. I will now send off these changes to my editor in hopes this does the trick without digging further into my prologue. There is a good chance I may need to chop an entire 3rd scene out of my prologue, but it is a scene I could maybe tie in later in the story. So will see, for now, I leave it, but I expect it may need to get cut.
Basically, both my editor and my professional Beta Reader (also an editor) have advised me to either remove large sections of the prologue or heavily rewrite them so that the reader understands more of what is happening at the time. I am resistant since my prologue has gone through dozens of critique group rewrites already and came out heavily improved and complimented upon its completion. So I find it VERY hard to chop or change. So instead, what I have decided to do is add some pieces of flashback to my Chapter One which will tie in the prologue better for the reader and help them going forward but still allowing me to keep them wondering early on.
I wanted to keep the reader guessing and scratching their heads in the beginning but wanting them to turn that page to find out more. Isn’t that what all writers truly want to achieve from their readers? In my sequel, my prologue again starts back in time which I will have to tie-in somehow afterward so the reader doesn’t get lost. A fine line between interest and confusion.