Article: To write an effective prologue, you need to first consider which prologue type fits with your novel. Often, prologues are written after the novel has been completed or when a novel is in its finishing stages. If you are writing a prologue cold, with no other chapters written, you should still think about how the prologue is going to affect the rest of the book. Think about how the prologue is going to enhance your novel and feel integral to the story. Will it reveal character, setting, or point of view? Will it provide backstory or frame the rest of the novel in a particular way? If you are writing a prologue for a completed book, you should also think about how the prologue will interact with your first chapter. The prologue should hook your reader in and be just as strong as the details and scenes in your first chapter, if not better. The prologue should not regurgitate details in the first chapter or feel redundant in any way, as this will likely lead to a boring and dry prologue. Often, prologues are set within a scene, especially in action and thriller novels. This gives the prologue a fast pace and helps to engage the reader right away. You should think about which scene or scenes you would like to use in your prologue. This may be based on the character voice you decide to use for the prologue. Use the five senses to make the scene come alive for the reader, with a focus on what the scene smells like, feels like, sounds like, and of course, how it looks. Have your character interact with these elements in the scene and use your character as a way for your reader to access the scene. Most prologues are successful if they are short and to the point. Try to use only one to two scenes in the prologue, as too many scenes can make the prologue feel too long and drawn out. Often, using one powerful scene as the prologue can be very effective and draw the reader in right away. Avoid hopping around in time a lot in your prologue, as this can make the prologue feel confusing or jumpy to the reader. Try to stay in one time period or within one to two time periods so the prologue does not become too long. If you decide to use your prologue as a way to access a certain character's point of view, make sure you get into the voice of your character. Think about how the character might speak to others and to themselves. Consider the age, background, and gender of the character, and how this might inform the character's voice or style of narration. If you are using the prologue as a way to access a character that does not appear again in the novel or only appears as a minor character, use the prologue to really explore the character's perspective. This is your opportunity to show the reader more about the character and delve into what makes the character tick. If the purpose of your prologue is to reveal the past moments in a character's life or to discuss the history of a character, you should make sure there is enough backstory in the draft. Include engaging details from the character's past and have the character show why these details are important or necessary to the rest of the story. Though the backstory should be about the character, it should also connect to the larger themes or ideas in the novel.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Choose which type of prologue fits your story. Create a scene with sensory details. Aim for a prologue with one to two scenes. Use a specific character voice. Put backstory in the prologue.