I'm undecided about this. Someone who read my ms asked me if I had considered putting in a glossary of terms in my book. Her point was that there are various abbreviations in the story (usually explained, i.e. written out in full the first time used), and also some back story/historical events that she thought could be put into a timeline format. I hadn't considered that at all, to be honest. I explained words or events as I went along (at the risk of avoiding info dumps, I re-wrote many of these sections numerous times..) What do you think? Do you look at glossaries or timelines in books? I must confess I don't always.
It depends -- if it's a historical novel or a novel that involves scientific stuff, you may want to include an appendix with interesting facts for the readers. With that said, it should never be neccessary for the readers to use an appendix to get what's going on. Weave in a subtle explanation of what the abbreviations mean; readers'll get it. Ditto for timelines; you shouldn't need one, readers should be able to keep track of the flow of the story. However, timelines are extremely useful as outlining tools.
Yeah, that's what I figured instinctively. Thanks I still have a prologue that I'm considering getting rid off also. It's much leaner than before granted, but something tells me to interweave the main points into the opening chapters.
