To Prologue or not to Prologue, that is the question…

I’ve been contemplating the opening of my mythological fantasy novel. We all know you need a good hook.

Some of the usual ways to open are:

Philosophical

Action

Dialogue

Setting

But the main thing you want to create through all of these is tension. Some introduction to what is at stake.

Prologues have historically been a popular way to hook the reader, as you can throw in a tense action scene or some mysterious philosophical thoughts that don’t have to directly tie in to your story at the start. Commonly, the significance of these prologues are revealed later on.

Think Twilight by Stephanie Meyer where the prologue is a depiction of a hunter-prey moment that seemingly has no relevance to the story when it begins. Yet later on, it’s revealed to be Bella’s reflections on how she arrived at the moment that James is going to kill her.

Now Twilight may not be the best-written book on the planet (albeit wildly popular) but the prologue was an effective hook.

Yet prologues have been widely criticised in the past few years. Brandon Sanderson flags its overuse in Fantasy saying it’s now gone out of fashion, and on the podcast The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, they criticise prologues for being:

1. A lazy authors way to open a book

2. Often used as an info-dump

3. Filled with backstory we don’t need

In fact, they state most agents either skip over reading them or reject a submission straight away if it includes one.

So, I went into a Waterstones this week and opened 10 fantasy books. 9 of them had prologues. If these are such detestable structural features, then why do so many of the most popular books still have them?

When I was debating whether to include a prologue in my book, my decision didn’t come down to the criticisms levelled at this opening, but was settled by my Ideal Reader. Does my Ideal Reader like prologues?

Honest answer: no.

They find them boring, irrelevant, and frankly an annoying thing to have to get through to reach the start of the story.

That decided it for me. No prologue.

My advice to any writer would therefore be to be led by your Ideal Reader. And if you are going to include a prologue, then:

1. No info-dumping

2. No backstory unless it’s going to be relevant later on and be part of some big reveal

3. Make sure you’re not using it for lack of a better idea.

Let me know your thoughts on prologues.

Published authors - have your agents or readers ever commented on prologue preferences?

Writers, do you every use them?

Readers, do you like a prologue?

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