Prologues are like infomercial blenders—we rarely actually need them, yet we want them anyway. Writers, especially epic fantasy writers, can’t resist writing them.
Today, I’m taking a stand against prologues. I think they’re overused, I think they’re underwhelming, and I think many books would be better off without them. In this article, I’d like to discuss when prologues work, when they don’t, and how to get them working the right way. Let’s get started.
When a Prologue Doesn’t Work
When prologues don’t work, it’s because they only serve one purpose: plot. They’re not establishing main characters or setting up essential conflicts—they’re simply saying, “This is how things got the way they are now.” It’s heavy-handed, and the same goal can often be accomplished more organically by other means.
Furthermore, prologues so often tend to be the same as all the others we’ve already read. Here’s an example:
We find ourselves in an idyllic world, thousands of years before the actual action. We follow a character who’s described little and ultimately isn’t that significant. There might even be some seemingly innocuous character who we can already tell ends up being the villain. Anyway.
There’s often some kind of war or dispute going on. The seemingly innocuous character does something evil, either by force or by choice, and it plunges the whole world into disorder. The characters in the prologue quickly become obsolete, and then the real story actually begins, usually without any of those others characters.
Too many prologues work this way—which is to say, they don’t work. But not every prologue is a bust. Which leads me to my next section…
When a Prologue Works
Prologues work best when they actually lend something to the rest of the book. I don’t mean setting the stage for the world or showing off the magic system early; one can do better through traditional storytelling techniques. What matters is getting your story going as soon as possible.
One possible exception to this rule is adding a prologue to a story in which there’s just too much flashback going on. Let’s say, for example, that you’re writing a book where you constantly add flashbacks and references to events happening previously. This certainly gets tedious after a while. As a reader, we don’t want forward motion halted constantly by allusions to the past. Here, a prologue might be appropriate.
If this sounds like a corner case to you, that’s because it is. Few stories have that much relevant backstory. There’s a reason most books do not have prologues; it’s because it’s often best to get right into the action of a book, then only provide backstory when it’s absolutely necessary. Otherwise, it impedes the flow of an unfolding tale.
Why then do so many epic fantasy writers rely on prologues? For one, I think it’s because they’ve become established tropes in the genre. Writers love them and many readers expect them. Furthermore, fantasy—especially alternate world fantasy—is more reliant on worldbuilding than other genres. Therefore, writers often feel a need to set the backdrop early, usually with a prologue.
Don’t let your prologue be an infomercial blender. If you’re going to include it, make sure you do it the right way.
Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction.
