The famous prologue. Some love it. Others hate it. So, should you use it? Depends. Does your story really need a prologue or could you jump right into chapter one?
The problem is that many writers don’t understand when to use a prologue or how to properly execute this controversial beginning. A prologue must stand apart from the rest of your story since using it creates a double beginning for your novel. The prologue needs a hook and must raise a question. Without those two elements, a reader won’t appreciate the necessity of those extra pages.
Often, a prologue will show the future or past life of the protagonist. Translation, some time must pass between this beginning and chapter one. The prologue could reveal events that will have a weighty effect on the story, and sometimes it’s told in a different POV, like that of the killer or his victim. Because this isn’t the true beginning of the story, it’s important to keep it short. No more than ten pages, but preferably closer to five. Plus, tension must be throughout the entire piece. This is not a place for a backstory dump.
The biggest thing to take away from all this? Make us scratch our heads. We need to question actions, events or characters we’ve just seen and wonder how that information pertains to the story. If we don’t care, the prologue isn’t needed or hasn’t been written properly.
Do you have a prologue in your story? Does it have to be there? What would happen if you removed it? Have you read prologues in best selling novels that you liked or hated? Why did you feel that way?
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I've read a few prologues that I liked, but with others, I didn't believe they were necessary. Its a tricky thing to get right, and it has to be necessary to the story.
ReplyDeleteI had a prologue in my original version of Immortalis Carpe Noctem. For the longest time I defended it to critters, saying it was necessary. It was only after many many revisions that I realized it was just fluff and backstory.
ReplyDeleteIt really depends on the story but for the most part a lot of people use them to give away backstory rather than an important event attached to the main plot.
David Eddings' series titled The Mallorean had prologues that I thought were very well done. They were entertaining, short, and to the point.
ReplyDeleteI had a prologue on my WiP that I recently shelved and it got deleted when I hit revisions. It didn't have any real bearing on the story.
Short prologues sometimes add to a story, sort of peak your interest. Long prologues, however, tend to make me lose interest and jump right into the story.
ReplyDeleteI put a prologue in my first novel to show the villain in his true colors and give the reader something to look forward to. I think it's fun.
ReplyDeleteI also really like the short almost paragraph prologues in The Last Apprentice series. Or they might not even be considered prologues. They're just a paragraph showing action that will happen right away.
I think it's something that can only be considered on a case-by-case basis. Who's to say yes or no conclusively? My current WIP has a short one, and I don't question its presence. If an agent or pub gave good argument for its removal later, I wouldn't fight.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a prologue and I'm not a fan of them. The last one I read was in HUSH, HUSH, and I think it ruined the whole book. Because the reader knew what Patch was. WE KNEW, yet we had to suffer through 200 pages of Nora not knowing. And that was annoying. If you don't read the prologue in that book, it is SOOOO much more enjoyable! (And for the record, I did love the book, prologue notwithstanding.)
ReplyDeleteUgh - you know how much I angsted over this. I had written a first chapter that was separated from the "beginning" of my story by 400 years! lol I tried a gazillion different ways to work it into the story but in the end, it just stood apart too much and was dragging the "main" story down, so I made it a prologue. I think it works. Out of all the different versions, readers responded best to the pacing of that one. So, I think if the story demands it, do a prologue. But I will still try to avoid them as much as I can.
ReplyDeleteI wrote my book without it, but the publisher suggested I add one. It's as you described - short, many years before story begins, raises questions, and hooks with fast-paced action. Now that it's there, I think it really adds to the story.
ReplyDeleteI've liked most of the prologues I've read in other books, too.
I had a prologue in the WIP I'm editing, and eventually realised it didn't need to be differentiated from the rest of the text. The action took place a few months before the rest of the book, but when I thought about it, it was still the start of the story and didn't need to be sectioned off. Sometimes we think we need to make part of the story a prologue when we don't.
ReplyDeleteI often find the prologue confusing. I do wish they were more consistent.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the Twilight book, I thought the prologue was in Edward's POV. (I knew zip about the book except there were vampires and everyone was addicted to it.) I still think the ending I imagined based on that prologue would have been pretty kicking, but it would have been for a pretty different book.
ReplyDeletei love prologues and i always write them. Then i go back and delete them. Mine are usually backstory, though they're always action packed and usually from the MC POV, but what can you do?
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day they'll come back in vogue as long as their well written.
I agree with Elana, tho - i don't like pro-logues that give away some of the mystery before the story has even started
As long as a prologue, like any other scene in a book, serves to move the story forward, I have no issue with them.
ReplyDeleteI've used them in my own writing, usually to set up a crime or the mystery element of the story since the scene often takes place before the meat of the story begins.
I don't like prologues. I tend to skip them when I'm reading a book, and then if I'm reading along and think perhaps I missed something vital I'll go back and skim the prologue for it. I think that the vast majority of the time they are not necessary.
ReplyDeleteYou're asking me (the reader) to get involved with a character or characters and/or a setting that are not part of the actual novel, so it feels like a waste of my time.
With that said, I am amazed how many books I have picked up lately while browsing in the library or in a bookstore that have prologues. At least half.
I have a prologue in one manuscript, which is important backstory that the protagonist discovers later. At least, I think it's important. I'll have to see if agents agree.
ReplyDelete