Writing a prologue can be difficult and intimidating. A prologue—the short opening section of a story—may be the first thing you read when picking up a novel. Consequently, some writers are afraid of giving away too much plot information, or of not enticing the reader with that initial sampling of their writing to continue past those first few pages. However, there are many ways to create a prologue that is both insightful and meaningful to the writer’s story.
A few helpful tricks in writing a prologue include the following:
- Be sure that your story needs a prologue: A prologue is especially useful for stories where history or background information is needed for the reader to be able to understand the characters and the plot. Know your story and be able to justify whether it truly needs a prologue. If you find yourself struggling to think of any essential information from your story to put into a prologue, you may not actually need one.
- Expand your prologue to include more than just a backstory: Don’t be afraid to throw in something that stirs the reader and gives insight into a particular viewpoint, or even a challenge to a viewpoint that your story might represent. While it is important to use the prologue to inform readers of significant elements in your story, it is critical that your prologue includes actions or events as well.
- Don’t give too much away: It is easy to get carried away wanting to excite your readers with an attention-grabbing hook or cliffhanger. While that can be suspenseful, it is crucial not to release too many details that could spoil a significant event or action that takes place later on in your novel.
- Be concise: Your book and your story should speak for itself. A prologue is a small window that exposes some elements that your story is here to tell. Don’t scare a reader off by providing too many details early on—ones that they can otherwise figure out as they continue to read your story. A prologue is meant to give insight, but not so much that someone will put your book down before they have the chance to get to the heart of it!
The inclusion of prologues is highly debated among certain authors. Some believe that it is just a small chapter at the beginning of the story that readers are going to skip. However, when written correctly, prologues can deliver a strong sense of backstory and intrigue. Make sure that your prologue focuses on answering a few questions:
- Am I conveying more than just expository information?
- Is the information I am presenting giving too much away about my characters or a driving conflict in my storyline?
- Am I being concise in my wording and potentially offering a new idea on a theme or motif that my story expresses?
Whatever your motivation is for writing a prologue, make sure that this literary element conveys what you need it to! Prologues can bait your readers in and draw them closer—but more importantly, the story that follows will need to keep them hooked until the end.
By: Emma Dahlsten
Emma is an Editorial Assistant at Technica Editorial
