A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος prólogos, from πρό pró, “before” and λόγος lógos, “word”) is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information.
Do you need a prologue? It only depends on your story. You can force a prologue and only make readers drop your book. Analyze your plot. Where do you start? Is there a piece of information that needs to be written to understand when the actual story starts? If the answer is yes, then write the prologue. Remember that every word you put in your manuscript has to be important.
You have places in your book where you can sneak information from the past. Flashbacks. Dialogues. Dreams. Books or any other research material in the story. A character’s thought on what happened before. A prologue can give us a sense of what is to come in the story. It should be something that helps us see why a character is a way it is. Why society behaves the way it does. Why the world is destroyed.
What can you do in your prologue? How about a story that has nothing to do with the characters? How about asking an intriguing question? Hold something with meaning and set it up as “I’m going to answer this question if you continue reading”. This is the hook that is used in thrillers, telling readers I know something, and I’ll reveal it soon. When you do your prologue it has to have the same voice as the rest of the story.
What else can you include in the prologue?
- Foreshadowing events to come.
- Providing background information or backstory on the central conflict.
- Establishing a point of view (either the main character or that of another character who is privy to the tale)
- Setting the tone for the rest of the novel or play.
What else you need to consider in a prologue? It has to be short. Don’t do a prologue with chapters. If you need to tell more information do a companion book. Make it short and sweet. Go directly to the point and make it exciting in order for the reader to continue reading. Here is where you can have a gut-punching first sentence. An attention grabber page.
Finally, just because you did a prologue, you can’t skip your setting. Give us the information on the MC, Main Conflict, where we are in order when we enter to the point of no return it is starting to make sense on what you wrote in your prologue. Make the audience want to continue moving forward and hard to let go of the book.