Good Prologues?

What do you think is a good prologue for any sort of story, but especially fantasy?

I put in a prologue for mine, which sort of explains a backstory, how the evil king came to power and how the good sorcerer lost his powers. Do you guys think that's a good idea for a prologue?

Hi there, Merlin (:

I personally enjoy a prologue that leaves questions open, that throws a "ball of wool" into the room which is then slowly disentangled during the story - If you ask me, it awakens the interest and keeps the reader alert.

If that isn't really your style, I would suggest mixing up some unclarity inro your "background story"-prologue: It's good to explain all the history and setting behind the novel, but even here: Leave some issues unresolved, even if it's just a question like 'How does the actual story fit into the background?' (You might want to keep that one blurred for a chapter or so? ).
Or, let's take a simple example, you write: "The king had his daughter killed."
>> If I read this, I ask myself 'Hey, wait a moment, just _why_ did he do that?". If the answer to that question slowly pops up in the - seemingly unrelated - story later on, I'll be surprised and thrilled.

Was any of that understandable? (:


Have a nice day,
Jackie.

A decent prologue is something that intrigues, raises questions and never reveals too much. It doesn't have to be out and out grab-you-by-the-throat excitement. A sense of mystery, atmosphere and mood can be equally effective, particularly in genre fiction (e.g. crime, thriller, Gothic/supernatural).

Prologues that are all exposition (that is, backstory, the 'history' behind the plot if you like) can become monotonous and lacking in interest. It's often better to insinuate elements of a character's past throughout in, say, a flashback when an incident in the main story reminds the person of something that happened previously. That way, your characters will be revealed to us in stages, like peeling back the layers of an onion, not neatly handed to us in a dozen or so pages. Just as we learn about our friends piece-by-piece, so disclosing information about your characters to the audience in small chunks will: a) make them easier to digest; b) create suspense & interest as to the motivations/conflicts that drive your characters and lead them to make the decisions they do in the course of the story.

Of course, what you mustn't forget is you need to work out all of this before writing your final draft! That is, with each rewrite, the backstories you have created to explain how and why your characters act the way they do should become gradually clearer to you, and you will understand the most effective way of giving this information to the reader.

I think that's a good idea, because there are many types of prologues.
They can be used to explain what has happened, or where are we going so that the reader isn't totally "out" when he/she starts reading.
It is also good to leave unanswered questions into your prologue.

I agree with what everyone else has posted. Basically, keep it short, sweet and to the point. Don't ramble on for pages.

A lot of authors use the prologue as an info dump. Don't do this, please. It's boring and just plain bad writing.

Don't give everything away in your prologue. If the main character is searching for the marvelous Sword of the Sun and the prologue has already stated that the Sword is hidden in the Crystal Cave, why should your readers keep reading? That's giving away too much information.

Also, try to avoid writing a prologue about the history or myths or a land or it's people, unless of course the story is actually immediately important to the story. If you start the story with a 5 page prologue on the great god Bobito, and then Bobito is never mentioned again until page 400, well, then you have a problem.