Hello friends,
Recently I started revising my steampunk romantasy novel, and I remembered how “they” say that prologues are bad. The question came to my mind, why are prologues bad? What if they aren’t? And I decided to investigate and see what I can find on this topic; especially since I am writing a prologue, right now!
Disclaimer: AI art has been used as the Featured Image for this post. All other images in this post are by human artists.
The Cons of Prologues
Based off of my research, it looks like prologues are seen as redundant, stating information we find out later in the novel, and are also seen as “info-dumping” (when too much information is given at once).
Worst of all, prologues are seen as BORING. They lack the “hook” that is vital to the start of any novel, which is often provided in Chapter One. They are too slow.
But, wait! I’ve seen good prologues! Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley has one of the most intriguing prologues I’ve read yet. You get a feel for the main character, Morgaine, the world she lives in, and the challenges she faces. The mystical setting and vibe of the novel is also prevalent. So maybe all prologues aren’t bad?
(Other prologues people love are the one in George R.R. Martin’s first Game of Thrones book, and Robert Jordan’s Eye of the World, of Wheel of Time fame).
The Pros of Prologues
Not all prologues are built equally. After all, not only can they set the atmosphere of a book or give key context, as Fox Print Editorial points out in this article, they can also offer important information to help you avoid info-dumping or adding awkward dialogue later in your novel.
That all sounds great, right?
Let’s look at a good prologue, then, to study it more. Here’s the one from Eye of the World by Robert Jordan:
PROLOGUE
DRAGONMOUNT
The palace still shook occasionally as the earth rumbled in memory, groaned as if it would deny what had happened. Bars of sunlight cast through rents in the walls made motes of dust glitter where they yet hung in the air. Scorch-marks marred the walls, the floors, the ceilings. Broad black smears crossed the blistered paints and gilt of once-bright murals, soot overlaying crumbling friezes of men and animals, which seemed to have attempted to walk before the madness grew quiet. The dead lay everywhere, men and women and children, struck down in attempted flight by the lightnings that had flashed down every corridor, or seized by the fires that had stalked them, or sunken into stone of the palace, the stones that had flowed and sought, almost alive, before stillness came again. In odd counterpoint, colorful tapestries and paintings, masterworks all, hung undisturbed except where bulging walls had pushed them awry. Finely carved furnishings, inlaid with ivory and gold, stood untouched except where rippling floors had toppled them. The mind twisting had struck at the core, ignoring peripheral things.
When I read that, my reaction is, “Whoa.” I am curious. What happened? What wrought this destruction and death? I can picture it in my mind’s eye based off of Jordan’s descriptions. I’m hooked – just as effectively as I would be if this were Chapter One versus a prologue.
So I think we’ve found the crux of the matter, then: As long as a prologue hooks the reader, it can still be relevant, interesting, and vital to your story.
How to Craft a Good Prologue
You might have the idea in your head that prologues have to be short. But as we see in another analyzation of Jordan’s prologue, on Reddit, the prologue isn’t actually that short. It’s not just a few paragraphs. And Zimmer-Bradley’s in Mists of Avalon is a couple pages, itself. These days though, I see prologues getting shorter and shorter. But they don’t have to be, evidently, to be good.
One thing that is quite clear from much discussion is, prologues need to show, not tell, just as much as Chapter One etc. of your novel should. If they are a whole lot of summary, backstory, etc., readers will lose interest before your story has even really begun. They won’t want to sink their teeth into it.
Hook your reader. Don’t let the prologue get too lengthy – not the length of a chapter – but short is also just fine. Don’t info-dump, and make the prologue just as important and interesting as the rest of your novel (hopefully) is.
Jane Friedman share some neat ways the popular stories have broken the prologue rules, and why it works. Amongst them are The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.
As Friedman elaborates in her post, if you do them very well, even info-dumping and other techniques can work. Ultimately, it comes down to how well-executed your prologue is, if you decide to break the rules of what makes a good prologue, VS a bad one.
Conclusion
I don’t meant to discourage anyone from writing a prologue to their novel. Like I said, I’m writing one, myself. But since I stumbled upon a lot of fun information about the how, why and what of prologues, I wanted to share it here, so me fellow writers can contemplate.
Happy writing!
Until next time,
C.S.
Typing Madly 