There are all sorts of “writing rules” out there. I first heard about these at a writer’s conference, though honestly, you do not have to go to a conference for that sort of advice. Writer’s talk about the “rules” all the time (even when they don’t agree with them).

The Unwritten Rules

• Avoid lengthy sentences.
• Don’t use anything other than “said” for dialogue.
• Lay off the adverbs.
• Minimize or avoid sentence fragments.
• Show, don’t tell.
• Stay clear of passive voice (i.e., if you can add with zombies).
• Stick with small rather than big words.
• Oh, and no prologues.

What’s so bad about prologues, you ask? Personally, I think they can be fun. They can set the tone for a story and hook the reader. As it turned out, every literary agent at the conference disagreed. The very idea of a prologue (or at least the idea of someone pitching a story with one) made their skin crawl.

The Good Prologue

The problem with prologues is that many of them are poorly written. Readers often skip them in their desire to get on with the story. How can a prologue be written in a way that engages them? What “rules” can we follow to make them worthwhile?

• Write a prologue with purpose. If the info you are introducing can be incorporated into the body of the story, put it there. There’s no need for a prologue. Only use a prologue if there is info that cannot be highlighted or brought into the story any other way. Whether it’s an issue of timing or point of view, have a reason for it. Writing a prologue for the sake of a prologue is self-indulgent, and quite frankly, lazy.
• Write a prologue that drives the story. If you can cut out the prologue and the story still makes sense, why use it? It’s a sign that the info can be sprinkled into your story in other ways.
• Don’t use a prologue to info dump. You will be hard pressed to find someone who wants to read a textbook for fun. So why would you inundate your reader with a long list of “facts”? Introduce character info and build worlds over the course of your story. Don’t shove it down their throats in one fell swoop.
• Don’t make a prologue too long. Readers want to be thrust into the story. They want to connect with your characters and they want to do it now. Get on with it already!

Famous Books with Prologues

Not convinced that a prologue is good writing? Consider the following examples:

The Bourne Identity

Robert Ludlum uses his prologue to introduce the inciting event in the story. When Bourne wakes with amnesia in Chapter 1, we follow his struggles to remember what happened.

Darkness had descended on Manassas, Virginia, the countryside alive with nocturnal undercurrents, as Bourne crept through the woods bordering the estate of General Norman Swayne…

The Bourne Identity, Robert Ludlum

Jurassic Park

Michael Crichton uses a third party account to set an ominous tone for his story. The instant you hear about the NDA, don’t you want to know more?

Parties to that settlement, including the distinguished scientific board of advisers, signed a nondisclosure agreement, and none will speak about what happened-but many of the principal figures in the “InGen incident” are not signatories, and were willing to discuss the remarkable events leading up to those final two days in August 1989 on a remote island off the west coast of Costa Rica.

Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov uses his prologue to frame his story as something that will make you uncomfortable. It screams READER BEWARE which, of course, makes us want to read it all the more.

As a case history, Lolita will become, no doubt, a classic in psychiatric circles … for in this poignant personal study there lurks a general lesson; the wayward child, the egotistic mother, the panting maniac...

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Neil Gaiman’s prologue sets the stage for an adult man to recall his troubled past. Only when he visits his childhood home does he remember what really happened there. What exactly was in that “ocean”? It’s the ultimate teaser.

I wore a black suit and a white shirt, a black tie and black shoes, all polished and shiny: clothes that normally would make me feel uncomfortable, as if I were in a stolen uniform, or pretending to be an adult. Today they gave me comfort of a kind. I was wearing the right clothes for a hard day.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman

Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare’s prologue goes beyond foreshadowing to outright slap us with spoilers, “A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life”. By teasing what’s coming, he makes us want to read on to see how it happens.

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene…”

Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare

A Tale of Two Cities

I mean, c’mon! Who has not quoted Charles Dickens?

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

Should you write a prologue? That’s for you to decide.