Young Writers Society

I used to think I hated prologues. After all, weren't prologues just supposed to be first chapters? They seemed needless to me. Then I read some work here, on this site, which proved to me otherwise. This prologue wasn't quite your normal prologue. It had a beginning, an end, and a middle to it with some of the best storytelling I had seen in a long time.

When you want to make a prologue, remember, you have to make a beginning and an end. It's like a short story. There shouldn't be a cliffhanger -- it should be self-contained! Remember, the best prologues are only tasty short story additions to the main story. Teasers, if you will.

I used to skip prologues if I'm honest but sometimes they're essential to a story and if nothing else they can be very well crafted. I think the main difference between a prologue and a first chapter is that the prologue doesn't always have to link directly with the story and as Snoink said, it can be a story within itself with a beginning, a middle and an end.

Prologues aren't always necessary though and sometimes it's better to launch straight into the story. It's important to spend some time deciding on whether you're going to include one or not.

My prologue is a sort of a flashback within a nightmare the MC is having. It's a bit of foreshadowing and a bit of her history all rolled into one. But I think Snoink's right. A prologue is different then a chapter. A prologue is like a little snippet of information to begin your story. A preview.

From what I've read/heard beyond these forums, its general literary consensus that prologues are pure evil and that it's best to avoid them. I don't know necessarily why...maybe because they're often used to compensate for a dull first chapter.

I don't mind prologues as long as they're interesting enough to pull me into the main story. I mostly see them in stories that focus on one character, but introduce some sort of mysterious or ominous threat that comes in later. It's a sad day when literary devices become cliche. Just think if irony or even three part acts were to become cliche. It's ridiculous. Use them if they make the overall story better, or else don't use them.

You should not do a prologue unless you are dealing with a high fantasy or sci-fi epic novel. Simple as that. The only other uses for prologues are one of three typical types.

To express historical background
To express the character at his lowest point about to face his greatest challenge (lame, but typical)
To tell the events just prior before the story set off. I.e. a criminal committing a crime and going to jail.

Personally don't use them unless it meets one of those. Prologues are a major turn off, as is an author's introduction to a story.

i think that a prologue can be the best part of a story. it's there to get ur reader hooked, to make them want to keep reading. sometimes, readers won't understand ur prologue until later in the book, and it makes them read between the lines. i always think really hard about my prologues, because that's the first chance u get to impress someone.

A prologue is not a first chapter. If you are hooking your readers in the prologue, chances are you just wrote your first chapter. A prologue is not a chance to impress someone, it is delivering essential information or views to understand a particularly unusual character or quickly get an understanding for the first chapter that is usually already in motion or about to start.

Your writing will impress and delight, but a prologue never should make a reader go 'Wow s/he writes really well'.

Why should a prologue never make a reader say, 'Wow, s/he writes really well'? Should you lower the standard of you writing if it does?

I always thought prologues are things that are connected to to the story but different. For an example a prologue would contain a story of several years before the original story. What happened in the prologue would effect the way the rest of the book goes. Sometimes the prologue is there to show what problems that incident occurred for the future.

Personally, I think you should use prologues only when you've got...

-Foreshadowing that must absolutely be revealed, if not through the character. Otherwise, it's not need.

-Extra information that you cannot immediately or within the first, say, 10 pages, reveal. That is, if you take out the prologue, then the reader will be totally lost. [If that's the case, also consider killing some plot threads...]

-A recap on a previous book, also known as a synopsis OR a scene that reflects on the previous book.

Otherwise, I think that you shouldn't use a prologue. If you're wanting to showcase all your talent, well, the reader should see that in the first few paragraphs.

Can you tell me whether my prologue is acceptable? I am writing a fantasy story and in the story the main characters find rings. My prologue is how the rings were made. (Don't worry, it's more than just somebody working in a shop.) Should I just find a way to introduce how the rings were made in the middle of the book, uncovering a secret unknown before?