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Q&A What's the most natural way to show a passage of time between the prologue and chapter one?

In my current novel, the protagonist is driven forward throughout the plot by events that happened to him in the past. The reader needs to know these events, so I'd like to include them in a prolog...

1 answer  ·  posted 9y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T17:48:58Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/19143
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T04:39:41Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/19143
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T04:39:41Z (about 5 years ago)
In my current novel, the protagonist is driven forward throughout the plot by events that happened to him in the past. The reader needs to know these events, so I'd like to include them in a prologue. The prologue would take place nearly a year before the events of the rest of the novel.

Here's my **question** : How can I show how much time has passed between the prologue and chapter one? Is there some technique I can use that will seem natural?

_Methods that won't work:_ Previously, I've included a bold header above the chapter, maybe with a date, maybe with a number of days later. I'm trying to veer away from this method though, because it doesn't lend itself to every kind of writing (this is just my personal opinion).

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2015-09-27T17:38:13Z (about 9 years ago)
Original score: 1