Prologue – An Extinct Art

Certain stories demand a prologue. These preceding pages are exploited by authors for a bouquet of reasons. While some employ preface to introduce a unique, fictional / actual landscape with complex characters, rituals, divisions and attributes others utilise the idea of foreword to narrate a random incident / accident which has taken place in a faraway location, and yet connected with the story in some way. Interestingly, this stray event forms the turning point or the highlight of the book. This kind of strategy works well with action / thriller novels.

Then there are others who simply dilute the success of a good literature by writing uninspiring introduction. It is because of this drab and sometimes unnecessary introduction that publishing houses and agents shun such manuscripts. Even readers have become wary of it because most of these initial short extracts are nothing but information dump.

Personally, I love prologues and I also believe that writing one is an art and therefore only a handful of writers can actually turn it into an advantage.

If a prologue is well written, short and carries a compelling hook it can offer unmatched excitement right from the beginning. A stimulating intro arouses readers’ interest. It forces them to buy the book, and turn even a new author into a success story. As mentioned earlier, writing a prologue requires careful planning which includes tightly written narrative. Writers also need to understand that there are ways and means to avoid the same. Nonetheless, some stories scream for introduction. It adds value to the book, to the writing and to the literary piece.

Mentioned below are some of the advantages of a prologue.

Preview to author’s writing skills –

Is the writing mundane, boring? Does this author justify the use of prologue? Is the introduction some kind of formal rant about settings or character? If the answer is yes then it may well be on its way to rejection or obscure journey.

Quick peek into the story, setting or event –

Creatively written prologue generally has some form of hook, especially at the end. Smart writers know this. It is this hook which transforms into a sale, a publishing contract or thumbs up from alpha / beta readers.

A perfect alternative to blurb –

While buying a book a reader typically reads the blurb to get an insight into the story which in most cases is dramatised and developed as sales collateral. Prologue offers a transparent window to the buyer to peep in, experience the highlight of the story in just a few pages.

So, what do you think? Is prologue unnecessary or is it a lost art form?