Start with a list of the necessary information and brainstorm ways to deliver it. If you're having trouble deciding what to do, read other authors' prologues. You can check out The Cure for Summer Boredom here to see the prologue in action. This type of prologue offers dramatic irony, giving your readers a thrilling feeling of suspense as they know something important the main characters do not.Purpose: Bring the plot full circle while avoiding a deus ex machina.It’s done its job if: The reader feels a satisfying sense of revelation when the clues planted in the prologue are brought back into the story.It’s good for: Mysteries and thrillers. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. As Writer’s Digest notes, “If your prologue is longer than most of your chapters … it might be time to reevaluate the structure and pacing of your chapters.”. If you want to make sure a child reads the books in order, you should number the books. While writing the prologue to my YA-for-grownups novel, The Cure for Summer Boredom, I followed all five of these rules. will make your reader feel more invested in what happens? This is your opportunity to show the reader more about the character and delve into what makes the character tick. The prologue sets expectations that the rest of your story must meet. A prologue is used to give readers extra information that advances the plot. Start by choosing what you want your prologue to accomplish. Then a Backstory Delivery prologue may be the smoothest way to bring your readers up to speed. How to Make a Prologue Stand Out. I need to have my journal article, dissertation, or term paper edited and proofread, or I need help with an admissions essay or proposal. Don’t feel compelled to write a prologue simply because most of the books in your genre start with one. Give me a shout on Twitter and let me know. Your gift of this article is an answer to my prayers. You can use it to provide backstory before the reader starts the novel, as a teaser to hook the reader, or even as a way to frame the rest of the novel. All services are available, and your order will be returned on time. Provide a different perspective or POV on the story. It’s good for: Literary fiction, psychological thrillers, suspense, and slow-burn stories. Some find it best to write the prologue after the bulk of the novel has been written, particularly if there is a vital plot component that cannot be inserted elsewhere. Is this essential to the plot? But depending on your story, it might draw your readers in more quickly. Some writing tutors maintain that a prologue should never be there just to provide atmosphere and to 'hook' the reader. We get it, writing is a personal thing and reading is a subjective pleasure. Give me a shout on Twitter and let me know. If the content in the prologue isn’t essential to your story (e.g., if you’re using it to make the start of your story more interesting), or if you can weave the content into the main body of your story without confusing your reader, it’s probably best to go without. The more boring, the better!” If your scene lacks action or purpose that propels your story, you may be falling into this danger zone. Essentially, this is a flashback that happens before you’ve got a plot to flash back to. If you’re going to include one, make sure it’s unskippable. Your prologue lays the foundation for the story to come, so make sure it’s constructed from the same narrative materials. There are five basic types of prologue; choosing which will best serve your story is your first (and most important) task. A skippable prologue, on the other hand, lacks important information, is unengaging, and is not integral to the story. It opens with an immediate reader-hook: the chase of a naked, drunk man through a small town early on a summer morning — an incident that provides key information about the setting, ancillary characters, and personality of the protagonist, who recounts the incident. Essentially, this is a flashback that happens before you’ve got a plot to flash back to. Can You Start A Sentence with And or Other Conjunctions? Yes, because the prologue is part of the book. Tonight…”. You can use the Outsider’s Report to convey key information, as in the Backstory Delivery prologue, or set the mood and tone of the story via a more artistic effect. That is, it must do something that no other section of the book can do. Make the length appropriate. Nothing’s sadder than a Chapter One that breaks the spell cast by an effective prologue. How do I present the plot in the prologue for my novel? Though prologues, prefaces, introductions, and forewords all come before Chapter One, they aren’t exactly the same. There’s a hook, a build-up, and the promise of an intriguing resolution, then … Chapter One. ", my knowledge about a prologue's purpose and the various types. Or maybe you've got everything mapped out, but seem to be struggling with writer's block. If the answer is no, skip it. Purpose: Set the stage for the story through the delivery of key information, or establish the mood and atmosphere of the narrative. If the style, content, tone, or theme of the prologue wouldn’t fit somewhere in your later chapters, it doesn’t belong in your story. Description: Some stories begin with a bang, others must build slowly to a fever pitch.