"Is this a prologue, or the posy of a ring? Ophelia: 'Tis brief, my lord. Hamlet: As woman's love." - William Shakespeare
Should you write a prologue for your novel? by John Fagan
Prologues are used at the beginning of a novel before the real story begins, in order to fill in the reader about the world or past events that may be significant to the story. Some writers love having a prologue and some don’t. They were popular in the past in novels and plays alike and they have their uses. Shakespeares’ Romeo and Juliet has one of the most famous prologues ever written, while in novels, Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring has one of the most memorable, taking the reader into Middle Earth, its history, and some information about Hobbits, before the actual novel begins.
"...Concerning Hobbits details the history of Hobbits from their origins in the Vales of Anduin, to their movement into Eriador, their trusteeship of The Shire, and the events leading up to the War of the Ring. Concerning Hobbits also provides a broad description of the physical characteristics of Hobbits, as well as their manners, customs and important families."
The popularity of Tolkien’s fantasy series has, rightly or wrongly, led many writers thinking this is the best way to introduce backstory into their story regardless of the genre.
"...Concerning Hobbits details the history of Hobbits from their origins in the Vales of Anduin, to their movement into Eriador, their trusteeship of The Shire, and the events leading up to the War of the Ring. Concerning Hobbits also provides a broad description of the physical characteristics of Hobbits, as well as their manners, customs and important families."
The popularity of Tolkien’s fantasy series has, rightly or wrongly, led many writers thinking this is the best way to introduce backstory into their story regardless of the genre.
An important question arises: should you write a prologue for your novel? Below are four reasons for and four against to help you decide.
Four reasons you should write a prologue
Reason one: Prologues help your reader fill in the gaps. They can prepare your reader for the world of your novel and get rid of confusion about the backstory of the world or certain characters. You can inform the reader of family histories, politics, culture, or technology, so the reader won’t get lost and give up on your novel.
Reason two: A prologue doesn’t have to be long. Something short and sweet can sometimes be enough to fill in your reader and if it’s short there’s a good chance it won’t bore them. A short prologue can even get your reader hooked on the story and excited for what’s to come in your novel.
Reason three: Prologues can create suspense by letting the reader know of the dangers in the world before the protagonist does and make the novel more enticing to the reader and sympathetic towards the characters.
Reason four: Getting through a prologue can make the reader feel like they have earned the story. Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose is one of the best selling novels of all time. But Eco was told that his initial description of historical events in the novel was far too long. Eco didn’t cut any of it because he wanted to prepare the reader for his story and if they wanted to get into his world they had to work for it. He decided that if readers were not willing to do some work then they were not entitled to read his novel.
Four reasons you shouldn’t write a prologue
Reason one: Prologues can make your reader tired before they’ve even started your story and if it’s not well written you will lose your reader. Prologues are just backstory and you can sprinkle the backstory anywhere in your novel. Starting with long lists of facts to fill in your novel’s backstory has a good chance of boring the reader. Yes some readers will power through this, but why take the chance? Simply put, boredom kills stories, so don’t let a prologue kill yours.
Reason two: Prologues in novels are not the same as prologues in films. A typical prologue in a novel drowns the story before it has even began, rather than builds suspense. Many amateur writers in the Sci-Fi genre for example have grown-up watching the Star Wars franchise and think the best way to introduce their own space opera novels is to begin by having several pages of about the history of the politics and wars in their own galaxies. But the confusion comes from the difference in medium. The short prologues in the films act as a vehicle for suspense. The audience is waiting for the film to explode into a visual and audio frenzy and this does not work in a novel as you are working with different senses.
Reason three: There’s a fair chance that a reader who knows nothing of a new writer’s world will not want to invest their time reading facts and figures about this new world instead of being taken into the story they were promised. They are looking to read a story not a history book.
Reason four: You can’t recover from a bad beginning. David Farland, author of the successful Runelords fantasy series, said that if a story starts off slow, as a prologue usually does, taking several pages to introduce the world without bringing in the protagonist or the conflict, there’s a good chance the reader will reject the novel and won’t read it.
Decision time on prologues
As you can see there are positives and negatives for both writing and not writing a prologue. You can write one and after you finish see if it slows the story. Getting other people’s opinions will help, too. But ultimately, it’s your story and your decision.
Come and Meet John Gerard Fagan
A Scottish writer and Creative Writing Assistant Professor. He writes in both English and Scots and in a number of genres, including Japanese historical fiction and crime noir. He moved back to Scotland in late 2019 after being in Japan for the last decade.
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