Purpose of the prologue

Hey!

I was writing my current novel the other day where I have just started the second draft. This means that I have started again from the beginning and have come back across the prologue that I wrote a while ago.

On seeing my writing, it made me wonder. Why do people often use a prologue without knowing what it is for? Is it because it has almost become a staple of the fantasy genre by accident?

I even heard that some people, when reading fantasy novels, skip the prologue altogether. I believe this is down to them not being used for the right purposes.

🥷Romantic-comedy straight to murder

One of the most important uses of a prologue is to set the tone. Ever wondered why "The Fellowship of the Ring" film started with a battle scene? It was exposition, but also setting up the tone for the rest of the film.

As soon as we went back to the Shire to meet Frodo, we knew that it wouldn't be this nice all the time and that something would change soon to force the protagonist into a more dangerous situation.

The same is done in "Eye of the World," Robert Jordan's first novel in the Wheel of Time series. He begins by writing a prologue [SPOLIERS] about a man having so much power that he accidentally kills his wife and then commits suicide.

Not only is this graphic in comparison to the introduction to the peacefulness of the protagonist on a farm, but it shows the type of stakes that will be at play.

🎁Give them a plane instead of a car

Another use of the prologue, similar to the previous point, is setting up a twist. It helps to display what might happen through foreshadowing without giving it completely away.

My favourite analogy about this very thing is from fantasy author Brandon Sanderson. In his lecture series, he compares writing twists to giving presents.

If you promise someone a car, then gift them a car - that is what they expect and are happy. Whereas, if you promise them a car and then give them a bike, it can fall flat.

Sanderson talks about the prologue by asking someone if they would like a plane and then convincing them over the course of the novel that it is what they want. For a much better explanation, see his lecture series, but hopefully you get the point.

In this case, if you plan to have a twist in the middle of your novel that completely flips the book on its head, the prologue is a good tool to indicate this.

This stops readers who enjoy the first half of the novel to actually dislike the twist because it is a shift from something they actually liked. Instead, you hint at the tone of the twist so that when it comes around your reader is subconsciously expecting it but not sure how it will play out.

🚧Setting a foundation

Finally, the third and final use I can think of for a prologue is for signalling for a series.

Say you are planning on writing a novel about a fantasy high school but the rest of the series is an Epic Fantasy, then the prologue could hint at that. It promises the reader that the genre will change so they aren't shocked when it happens.

Instead, the reader will expect it and see it as a natural progression of the series as it was made clear before hand that the genre wont stay the same all the way through.

A prologue can be used for many reasons, but it all boils down to one key concept:

Prologue = setting promises

This is either for tonal, character, genre etc. But if used correctly, it will promise the reader of change so that when it comes about later, it doesn't turn away readers due to it being unexpected. It becomes an almost natural part of your novel.

That's all from me today,
Fin :)