Prologue help

You could have a prologue that is showing the readers something that they have no clue what's going on, but make it short and cool. Like what I did with this.... topic28546.html

YOu see the readers know she is going to die but how and why is what they wanna know ^_^

You could pose questions: Why is this character in this place at this time? Who are they going to kill? What is their motivation? (Not literally, of course, but things the audience can ponder over.)

You can put the audience in a superior position, much like the previous person suggested.

You can end on a cliffhanger or a surprise. Make the reader jump, gasp in shock/horror and force them to turn the page!

Of course, some beginnings are full of subtlety and mystery. They don't grab you by the throat and leave the reader screaming and begging for mercy. Some are mysterious and mood-setting. My advice is to read the openings of your favourite stories and your least favourites too. Find out what works and what doesn't, what style suits the atmosphere of the whole book or this particular episode and what would be least appropriate. Experiment with different styles and write three openings: a surprising one, a mysterious one and an exciting one.

My suggestion: don't write a prologue at all. If you're writing a scene that is way before your actual narrative, right in the middle, or at the end, consider whether your reader is actually going to care enough (at the very beginning) to continue to pay attention.

Beginnings have a few important jobs: 1. Hook the reader, 2. Introduce the characters/setting, 3. Introduce the conflict.

Prologues tend to never do this - and if yours does, good job! But if it doesn't your reader will quickly put down your book and find something else.

Try writing a scene where something is actually happening that has to do with the real conflict of the story, instead of something far off, and seemingly unimportant.

This has helped me a bit more on the subject and explaining to others.

But as Suz has said, do you really need a prologue? I always try to stay away from it (after one prologue of mine failed utterly years ago). Does it have any effect as a prologue and not a chapter 1?

When I was younger, I would sometimes just skip the prologue because they always seemed useless to me. I kind of.. don't now. XD If there's a prologue, there's a reason why. If you can read the story without reading the prologue, the prologue is unneeded. ^_^