To Prologue or not to Prologue, that is the question
When starting a novel, many authors wonder whether they should begin their story with a Prologue. Keep reading to find out what a Prologue is and if your story should include one.
What is a Prologue?
A Prologue is a short scene that gives a glimpse into the main plot that you may have not been otherwise able to convey. It may be a flashback or flashforward, or a scene from a point of view other than your protagonist’s. For example, something may have happened a hundred years prior to the beginning of the story that is crucial to know, or the protagonist may have been an when an event occurred, this unable to narrate it for themselves.
Another way a prologue may be used is to build tension by revealing a hint of the future. By allowing the reader a glimpse into what is coming you can allow them to look for, while also dreading that moment when it happens.
Does your book need a Prologue?
While it may seem that having a Prologue in every novel may be a good idea as it has the potential to add tension and better explain the plot, it can actually hurt your story quite easily by revealing too much of the plot or bogging down your hook with information.
A good rule of thumb is to avoid adding a Prologue if the information can be revealed in a later chapter in a much more organic way. This is especially true of Prologues that function as info or exposition dumps. A Prologue should not be there just to provide world-building or information or even to set the tone of the story, but to convey information that does not fit it elsewhere.
Therefore, there are basically three reasons to include a Prologue into a novel:
- You have to reveal an event that happened outside of the context of the main plot, that the main character has no knowledge of, and that can’t be explained during the course of the story.
- Your plot is complex and involved, and the Prologue contains information that is crucial for the reader to understand the rest of the story. (This is still no excuse for an info-dump!)
- Without the Prologue, none of the story makes sense.
While a Prologue can certainly be used to set a tone, or provide world-building information, this should be done only in the context of one of the above three reasons.
How to write a good Prologue
- Make it interesting
When including a Prologue, it takes the place of the hook in a novel. As such, it is imperative that it be riveting to the reader. This does not mean that your first chapter can be boring. In fact, the Prologue should act in conjunction with the first chapter to keep them turning pages.
- Keep it brief
Your Prologue should only be the length of a short chapter and should outline a single event. It should be shorter than your average chapters. As mentioned before, the goal is to give vital information to the reader, so only that should be included.
- It should be fast-paced
Keep your audience captivated by making sure that you use prose that is fast-paced, and action-centric. The Prologue is the first glimpse of a reader into the story, and it needs to be engaging and crystal clear. Bogging down the narrative with flowery prose is an easy way to lose a reader.
- End with a question
The end of the Prologue should work like a miniature call to action, by introducing a question to the plot. It should leave the reader wondering about what come next and induce them to keep reading to find out what is going to happen and how it ties in to the greater story.
Ultimately, the choice about whether or not to include a Prologue is yours, and you may include one when you start writing only to discover it is superfluous once you start reviewing your work. Or you might finish your novel, only to then decide a Prologue is needed.
