A prologue is an introduction to a literary work that comes before the main narrative of the story. Its purpose is to provide information to the reader that is not readily apparent in the first chapter. Simple, right?
Anyone who has been writing novels for a while can tell you that the debate on prologues is fierce. Many of us writers refuse to include them, while the rest of us adore them in moderation. A quick Google search will reveal that the prevailing belief is a varying percentage of readers skip right over them and go directly to chapter one. Some sources cite as low as 5% of readers skip the prologue, but others insist the number is closer to 40%.
The consensus is clear—some readers do skip prologues. Which makes it worthwhile to be very deliberate when we decide to include them. Let’s examine some common types of prologues so we know when to use them and when we can skip writing them altogether. The following non-exhaustive list includes the major types of prologues in fiction paired with some book and movie prologues so we can see them in action.
Types of prologues
- Background to the story or main character – This type of prologue will generally take place before the events of the story that begin in chapter one. It will delve into the history of what will unfold in the story or, at its best, it will delve into our protagonist’s history.
- Example: X-Men (2000) The movie opens with a young boy and his parents at Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Nazis separate the boy from his parents and we see him use his power of metal manipulation for the first time as he destroys the fence topped with barbed wire. This boy becomes Magneto, an important character in the film.
- An alternate perspective – These books open with a point of view that isn’t the protagonist’s. This could be a minor character’s point of view or a villain’s perspective. It’s designed to give the reader insight into the events of the book that the protagonist does not possess at the start of the story. The story could likely be read and understood without this opening, but it gives the reader a promise of what’s to come.
- Example: Kiss the Girls by James Patterson opens with the killer’s perspective as he commits a heinous crime.
- Dual opening – This prologue will give the reader anticipation for the rest of the story to unfold. The prologue opens at one scene, usually a precursor to something that will pick up later in the book, and the first chapter opens in another part of the story. This creates two introductions to the book.
- Example: The Greatest Showman (2017) The film opens with an upbeat music and circus sequence led by P.T. Barnum, giving us a glimpse at what is to come for him. Then the scene fades to Barnum as a little boy with his father. From there we watch him slowly start to build the groundwork of the circus. We know that this circus will be spectacular because the opening scene laid that anticipation, and we keep watching to see it brought to life.
- Groundwork for the setting and world-building – This prologue is commonly used in fantasy and science fiction where extensive world-building is often necessary. This can sometimes, but not always, be a straightforward telling of what has happened in the world.
- Example: Star Wars (1977) The floating words at the beginning of the film gives the audience a quick glimpse at what has been happening in this world to get us to this point in the story.
- A teaser scene – This prologue’s strength is that it is an excellent tool in foreshadowing what will come for the protagonist while lacking context. We don’t know how the protagonist got into this position or even who all the players are in the scene, but we are intrigued.
- Example: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. Though it is referred to as a preface in the book, this scene functions as a prologue. It opens with the heroine Bella facing an unknown hunter and likely death. It’s a great example of a first line hook: “I’d never given much thought to how I would die—though I’d had reason enough in the last few months—but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.” Chapter one starts with her as a normal high school girl, and we are left with the promise that she will face death soon.
What not to do in a prologue
Those are some examples of when prologues can work well and enhance the reader experience. Now, let’s discuss a few important things to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to add one of those types of prologues to your work.
Just like with all writing, we want to avoid the info dump in the prologue. This is when you give the reader a whole lot of background information at once instead of working it into the narrative of the story. You could easily fall into the info dump trap if you’re writing a prologue that will lay the groundwork for your world. If this is the type of prologue you need, consider creating a scene that will get the information across. Or, take a page from Star Wars, and write a straightforward telling of what’s happened in the world, but keep it brief and to the point.
This brings us to what just might be the most important rule of the prologue. Keep it short. If a prologue goes on and on for pages, consider if you can work that information into the main narrative of the story. Readers can get fatigued waiting for the actual story to start.
In writing your prologue, try not to use a different style or voice that never ties into the main story. You could have a prologue from a God-like figure in your world that is setting the scene for the story. That character’s voice would obviously be different from your protagonist’s, but it should fit with the lore of the world you have created so the readers see echoes of it throughout your story.
A prologue is not necessary if you are just using it to set the mood of your book. Setting the mood is one of chapter one’s main jobs. Let it do the work.
This last one is debatable, but I have heard it said that writers should not put information that is too critical into the prologue. This goes back to the idea that some readers are prone to skip them anyway, and we don’t want them missing crucial information. In looking back over the examples above, could you understand the story being told without the prologues? Probably, but those short scenes really enrich the experience.
Prologue must-haves
If you’ve made it this far and have decided that a prologue is just the thing for opening your manuscript, here are a few things to put on your editing checklist.
- The prologue must have a hook. The hook is a psychological trigger that grabs the reader and makes them want to keep reading. The tricky part of this is that your chapter one must also have a hook. If you skip one of these hooks, then there might not be enough tension to keep your reader turning the pages.
- This goes without saying, but just to be clear, readers should want to know more by the end of the prologue. They need to feel invested in the story.
- I said this above, but it is so important that I’ll put it here, too. Prologues need to be short. There are exceptions to every rule, and we can all point to successful books with long prologues. But most of these were published long ago. Readers have shorter attention spans now. Generally speaking, shorter is better.
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Harper St. George writes historical fiction romance set in various time periods from the Viking Era to the Gilded Age. Her latest series are The Gilded Age Heiresses and The Doves of New York. She lives in the Atlanta area with her family.