: Re: Bad to start story with VR/non-real scene? I'm coming up with an outline for a cyberpunk story. I want to establish (at some point) that the main character has marksmanship proficiency by starting

@Bethany377

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ANSWER: It Depends.

I think this is what you'd call a prologue. It might not be structured like one, but it probably could be and therefor is.

In almost all cases you don't need prologues. The common advice for newer writers to avoid them. The reason for this is that its common these days for stories to start "en media res" which means in the middle. Lot's of novice writers start with a prologue, but its distracting, uninteresting, or creates false promises. It can cause a reader to lose interest.

However, prologues are really common in certain forms of literature. In certain forms of literature its harder to find books without them than it is with them.

There's a lot of literature on this. You can do it. It is done. But, it is as successful as it is engaging/relevant to the story.

Just to nit-pick, all story is fiction on some level; none of it is real. Pieces of stories matter if they are engaging and cause the reader to turn the page and not give up. So as long as you aren't turning readers away, you can do whatever you like (if your goal is to keep people reading).

This answer felt pretty tautological to me to write, so hopefully its helped in someway.

The things you have to consider are the things you always have to consider. What is the tone you're going for? Who is your audience and what do they expect, what will they tolerate? How relevant is the dream/vr scene to the whole of the story? If its not related to your book's primary mission, you probably don't need it.

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