The “prologue” is one of the most contested—and most misunderstood—elements of fiction writing. Some readers love it, while others roll their eyes at the very idea. But honestly, if it’s good enough for Shakespeare…
A bad prologue can be distracting, while a great prologue can help elevate a story and grab the reader’s attention right from the first page. If you’ve been wondering whether or not to include a prologue in your novel, or you’re wondering how agents and publishers feel about them, you’re in the right place. We’ll guide you through everything you need to know.
What is the prologue of a story?
A prologue is an opening segment to a fictional narrative, such as a novel or play, that provides context about the characters, setting, or key conflict that drives the story. Prologues can take place before, after, or during the main story. A good prologue grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to know more.
You can think of your prologue as your “Chapter 0” or “pre-chapter”. It’s important to the story, but it occupies a space outside of the primary narrative. They’re usually shorter than a standard chapter, a single scene, and may use a different form or structure from the main text.
We’ll look at why you might want to include one, with some effective examples, below.
The purpose of a prologue in a book
Since not all novels have prologues, you might be wondering why we bother with them in the first place. The role of a prologue is to communicate important information that you couldn’t have any other way.
This might be because it’s from a different point of view than the main story, or takes place in a different time. If you had structured it as a Chapter One, the shift would be jarring to the reader.
A prologue can fill out the story’s worldbuilding, reveal important background about the characters, or even highlight important themes. Some prologues can also be used as framing devices (we’ll take a closer look at this below).
Prologue vs. epilogue, preface, and foreword
When you stop to think about it, books have a lot of moving parts. No wonder there’s some confusion around all the different sections that can introduce a reader to a novel. Let’s break down the most common ones you might run into.
Prologue vs. epilogue
While a prologue goes at the beginning of a novel, play, or film, an epilogue comes at the very end of the main plot. These can act as bookends for the central story.
An epilogue can show where the characters ultimately ended up after the events of the plot. It might also hint at an upcoming sequel.
Prologue vs. preface
Unlike the prologue, which is part of a work of fiction, a preface is a nonfiction section written by the author in their own voice. Both come at the beginning of a book. If a book has a prologue and a preface, the preface will come first.
The preface is a separate introductory section where the author can explain why it was important to them to write this book and how they feel about it. This is common in novels inspired by true family stories, or events to which the author has a personal connection.
Prologue vs. foreword
A foreword is another nonfictional opening section much like the preface, only the foreword (that’s [be]fore + word, not forward!) is written by someone else. It’s common to see this in anniversary re-releases or collections.
Forewords can be written by other authors in the genre, experts in the field, or public figures that are relevant to the story or content. These introductions are personal reflections on the book and why it matters to them. The foreword and the
When to use a prologue in your story
There are a few instances in which a prologue can level-up your story and add another dimension. Here are a few good reasons to include a prologue in your novel.
You need another perspective
Choosing a PoV is making a pact with the reader. You’ll want to try not to break perspective throughout the novel, which can be jarring and can pull the reader out of the story. But what if you need to show the reader something your point-of-view character can’t possibly know?
The prologue is a no man’s land where the “rules” are a little looser. So if you’re going to incorporate another point of view, this is a good place to do it. You can oscillate between first and third person, past and present tense, and so on. The prologue is a good place to show something happening before, during, or after the main story to arm the reader with the right context.
You’re using a clever framing device
A “framing device” is when you use a story to tell another story. It could be a father telling a story to his son, an old war vet looking back on difficult memories, or a fictional author writing a novel within the novel. These are like Russian dolls, multi-layered narratives that reveal a new story with each turn.
In these stories, the prologue will often set up the framing device. Then, Chapter One will introduce the in-world story. They’ll usually return to the framing device in the epilogue, providing the overall book with a sense of balance.
You’re starting your story from the end (or middle)
Sometimes it can be useful to drop the reader right into the action. What’s going on? How did it happen? And what’s going to happen next? Then, the narrator takes them back to the beginning. In film and TV, you’ll often see the classic “Twenty-Four Hours Earlier” title card to cue the end of the prologue and the beginning of the main narrative arc. This is sometimes called the “future protagonist” prologue.
This flash forward approach uses dramatic irony, which allows the reader or viewer information that the characters don’t—otherwise known as the “watch out, he’s behind you!” approach. Your audience watches the story build to its inevitable conclusion, heightening the tension and suspense.
There’s essential information the reader needs
Some prologues are used to communicate important social or cultural context in the story’s setting, or in the characters’ lives. It might be a formative experience in the protagonist’s (or antagonist’s) childhood, or a moment that takes place in their home, workplace, or town. These events go on to shape the character and their world. Sometimes you’ll see this being called the “past protagonist” prologue.
Be wary of using the prologue to “info dump” (see when not to use one, below), or communicate exposition that would work better elsewhere. But it can be a good place to broaden the reader’s horizons of this world you’re creating.
When not to use a prologue in your story
Then, there are the not-so-subtle snafus that make prologue haters want to throw a well-intentioned novel in the bin. While a good prologue makes a reader want to read on, a bad prologue will make them close the book and choose something else. Here are a few pitfalls to avoid.
You want to sneak in some worldbuilding
This is the most common cause of unnecessary prologues, especially for fantasy and science fiction writers. The world you’ve created is glowing and expansive and full of complex histories, and you want to get the reader up to speed. Totally understandable.
But the thing is, that’s not a story. It’s asking the reader to study up before you reward them with the main story, and at this point—tough as it may be—you haven’t earned that investment. It’s best to work the worldbuilding into the first few chapters as you develop the characters and plot.
You’re exploring a character’s backstory
Another common mistake is starting a novel too early. If you’re using your prologue to show a flashback from your character’s past, it should say something concrete and important. One memory, one event. But if you’re using it to show where they grew up and what their family was like and what their first job was and how they moved to a new city where they had no friends… this, again, is not a story.
Reads don’t want to sit down and absorb several pages of background information before the book begins. Character backstory works best when it’s fed in gradually through the narrative, coming out organically when it becomes relevant. Hit the ground running, and keep the reader interested right from page one.
You’re fluffing up your word count
The industry standard word count for a publishable novel is roughly between 70,000 and 90,000 words. If you finish your draft and discover it’s closer to 50,000, adding a prologue seems like an easy way to get that word count up.
Not so fast, writer. The last thing you want is to fill your opening pages with unnecessary content. These first pages are essential, and using them to reflect on the meaning of your story is a surefire way to get your reader to move on to something else. Avoid prologues that are essentially backstory or that don’t communicate something important.
A prologue should only be used when it feels necessary—otherwise, it’s just taking up important real estate on the page (that could be used for the actual story).
Examples of effective prologues in literature
Now that we’ve learned what and what not to do, let’s look at a few examples of famous prologues that pulled their weight in a novel.
Water For Elephants, by Sara Gruen
The prologue of Sara Gruen’s historical fiction novel, which was adapted into a popular film, does a lot of heavy lifting for the story. The book opens by establishing the unusual circus setting, and hints at something awful about to happen. The end of the prologue reveals a shocking murder—which turns out to be a bait-and-switch that’s revealed at the end of the book!
Gruen’s prologue accomplishes the seemingly impossible: it reveals the ending, but still manages to hide the big twist. The rest of the book builds towards this inevitable conclusion, and the reader gets to see how it all plays out.
The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
Ah, The Princess Bride. The biggest literary hoax of the 20th century, which still fools Amazon reviewers to this day. William Goldman’s novel uses a framing device in which a fictionalized version of himself goes on search of a lost fantasy novel. The lost fantasy novel, of course, doesn’t exist (sorry). But in the pre-Google seventies, Goldman convinced a legion of fans that it did.
The prologue describes Goldman’s first encounter with the imaginary Princess Bride, which his father (also fictional) read to him as a kid. As a grownup, Goldman (the fictional one), decided to re-release it as an abridged version. Yes, it’s tangled. The prologue creates an entire world external to the novel, and the complete book is greater than the sum of its parts.
The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
Donna Tartt’s novel has gone down in modern history as one of the seminal “dark academia” texts, which is a fancy way of saying “wealthy, well-educated people behaving badly”. The prologue uses the main character’s first-person narrative to describe the aftermath of a group murder, and the victim. From here, the first chapter goes back in time and the reader learns how it happened.
This prologue uses dramatic irony to heighten tension and suspense. The murder actually takes place around the middle of the book, not the end. The reader gets to see why the crime took place, and how, before the novel continues and shows how the group of friends begins to fall apart as a result.
Tips for writing a great prologue of your own
Ready to dive into the prologue waters? You’ve seen prologues that work well, and good reasons to include one in your novel—as well as reasons not to. Here are some tips for writing a prologue that shines.
Start in medias res
“In medias res” means “in the midst of the action”. In other words, no “Once upon a time” malarky. Straight into the story.
This ensures you draw readers in from the very first line. Something is happening, and they’ll want to see what happens next. Don’t worry too much about this in your rough draft; a great opening is often a product of great revision, when you have a better idea of how the story begins and where it’s going.
Raise questions
An effective prologue gets the reader asking questions. Keep in mind there’s a fine line between intrigue and confusion; the prologue should focus on just one mystery, rather than throwing a bunch of them at the reader all at once.
This could be something like “How do they murder him?”, from The Secret History. Or, “How will they escape?” Or, the most important question of all, “And then what happens??”. To learn the answer to these questions, the reader will have to keep turning the page.
Hint at central themes
Although you won’t have space for a lot of character development in your prologue, you can still begin to introduce your story’s theme. For instance, the prologue of the novel Crazy Rich Asians highlights the absolute power that money can buy—a continuous thread throughout the book.
Think about what your story is trying to say, and how you can incorporate this into your prologue. Hope, knowledge, family, found family, and tradition are all possible themes you might choose to explore. You can begin to introduce them through the first appearance of a major character, a setting that represents a larger idea, or a catalytic event that encompasses the core theme.
Land on a cliffhanger
Remember how we talked about raising big questions? There’s no better way to do that than a good ol’ fashioned cliffhanger. This means ending the prologue right before the question is answered.
This could be the moment the character walks into a trap, or faces some kind of danger, or confronts the antagonist for the first time. Where will this action take them? The reader has to keep reading to find out.
A well crafted prologue grabs the reader’s attention
You may have heard that the publishing industry isn’t that keen on prologues, or even that readers skip prologues to get to the real story! But as we now know, this isn’t true. A badly written or unnecessary prologue does more harm than good, while a well-written, thought out prologue can really elevate a novel.
Try reading some prologues and epilogues, particularly those from writers in your genre. You’ll see how a well-written prologue can provide context to the whole story, and help make sense of the characters’ motives and choices.
Whether this is your first novel or your tenth, there’s always more to learn about what makes a good story. Try experimenting with a prologue—the result might surprise you!
