Recently I made a manuscript evaluation for a fantasy novel. It was great – undead pirates, subverted chosen one ideas, strong themes, awesome magic – but there was one scene in it that caught my attention.
So, I spoke to the author about it and told them the scene (in chapter 30 or so) would function really well as a prologue.
They replied: “How did you know?”
I was confused.
After some discussion it came out that this scene had originally been their prologue.
We discussed how to integrate it into the prose so it doesn’t feel like a prologue and discussed the merits of where it was against if it was still the prologue and the author went back to their book with some new ideas and rekindled excitement.
But it got me thinking: why did it feel like a prologue to me? What about this perfectly ordinary scene invoked the reading experience of a prologue?
So, as is often the way, I decided to consult some books and look at how a few other authors approach prologues and the purpose they serve.
(Slight spoiler warning for the mentioned titles!)
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
The prologue for the first book in George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is epic and its prologue captures your attention right from the beginning.
What happens?
We start with Ser Waymar Royce, Will, and Gared, three members of the Night’s Watch who are patrolling beyond the wall. Will leads the others to an encampment of wildlings, all dead but not by natural causes. When they arrive nearby, Waymar instructs Gared to wait with the horses but not to light a fire for fear it will attract trouble.
Will and Waymar ascend the ridge and find the wildling bodies are gone. Waymar orders Will to climb a tree and look for a fire/camp, which he reluctantly does. From above, Will sees a white shadow attack Waymar.
The shadow is revealed to be an Other (or White Walker), and it kills Waymar while Will cowers in the tree. When he finally climbs down, he inspects Waymar’s body before going to collect Waymar’s broken sword, which he intends to bring back to his Commander as proof of the encounter.
But, as he stands up, broken sword in hand, he sees Waymar standing over him, his one eye now icy-blue. Will is killed and the prologue ends.
What does the prologue achieve?
World building: we know we’re in a world of magic and religion where beyond the wall it’s dangerous
Society: we learn of societal classes, get a hint of gender-based ideals in the world, and learn that even though the land beyond the wall is cold, lightning a fire is a poor idea
Tone: we get a good sense of the kind of language used, the dark world, and the somewhat playful prose style
Factions: we learn the role of the Night’s Watch without being directly told
Threat: we are exposed to the threat of the Others, which provides an underlying tension for us as we read through the book and they don’t appear (until, of course, they do)
This prologue acts as a self-contained story, giving us characters, tone, tension, and threat all in a handful of pages. The actions we see in this prologue are referenced in small ways throughout the first book, but their main function is to introduce us to the world and the threat of the Others.
The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
The prologue in Brandon Sanderson’s The Final Empire is an action-packed scene that sets up the story, characters, and magic expertly.
What happens?
Lord Tresting is walking his fields with an Obligator, discussing matters of state. He spots a skaa (a class of humans most often kept as slaves in this world) looking at him defiantly from a group of skaa workers. So, as lords in this world do, he turns to give orders to his taskmaster. But the skaa has disappeared, so Tresting orders the taskmaster to beat the skaa group’s leader and make them work harder.
We then join Kelsier musing about the ash that falls from the sky and the wilted crops as he crosses Tresting’s fields to get to the skaa house. He gets a less-than-warm reception, but when he opens the door to leave the skaa order it closed, scared of the mist that spills in.
While he talks, a scream is heard and Kelsier ‘burns’ Tin, an Allomantic metal, to enhance his hearing and listen to what is happening. Kelsier is told the girls are killed after the lord is ‘done with them’, which is the law set by the Lord Ruler. Hearing this, Kelsier leaves in the night.
The next day Mennis, an elder skaa man, awakes to find the stolen woman has been returned. He smells smoke and, when he arrives on the hilltop, he and many other skaa see Lord Tresting’s manor house burned to the ground, all the soldiers, family, and nobles inside killed by Kelsier.
What does the prologue achieve?
World building: we learn the skaa have been slaves working fields for 1,000 years and they fear the mist.
Society: we learn of the Obligators, the Steel Ministry, and the Lord Ruler. From Kelsier and the skaa we learn this is a brutal and poor society with the nobles lording over the skaa. Skaa women are killed to stop the creation of noble-skaa half-breeds - this is a law set by the Lord Ruler.
Threat: we learn the mist and mistwraiths are dangerous and feared by the skaa (an idea that maybe we learn isn’t as true as we imagined later on). The skaa’s objections to Kelsier starting a rebellion show us the consequences should they fail
Magic: we learn of Allomantic metals and the use of tin. This is very important in the Mistborn series
A beginning: the skaa decide to run to the cliffs, which is a key point later in the story. Kelsier’s actions directly start the rebellion
Character: we learn here the lengths Kelsier is willing to go to destroy the Lord Ruler’s empire. We learn of his character, his motives, and his personality as well as some identifying marks
This prologue is also a self-contained story, but its theme and actions directly lead to the main story. There is a payoff with the skaa running to the caves and being met again later in the story and Kelsier is one of our main characters of the series.
So, what should a prologue do?
From these two examples (there are many more that we could dive into, but we’ll stick to two here) we can see some common purposes:
Build the world. Aspects of the world that differ from our own can be hinted at and built in a prologue. This isn’t necessarily an introduction to your characters but to the world in which their stories take place
Society. Is this a dictatorship, kingdom, empire, dystopia? The prologue is a great place to sow the seeds for your readers, whether that be from a story set at the same time, a bit before, or millennia before the main story takes place.
Key elements of the story. For A Game of Thrones this includes the language and tone of the world and narration; for The Final Empire this includes the magic system, Kelsier’s attributes, and the idea of rebellion. The key elements of what make your story unique should be delivered here
Threat. Without threat and consequences, it’s hard to get a reader to care. Threats don’t have to be world-ending or life and death moments: they can be as big or as small as you like, so long as the reader can feel and understand them.
Self-contained. A prologue can, in many ways, be considered as a short story set in this world. It should have a clear narrative and direction that pulls a reader onto the next page and shouldn’t rely on the main story to complete it. In A Game of Thrones the story is complete once Waymar wakes up and kills Will; in The Final Empire the story is complete when Lord Tresting’s house is burned down and the skaa are freed.
A prologue doesn’t need to do all these things – in fact some prologues break these guidelines to great effect – but writing and editing the scene with these aspects in mind can put you on the right track for making an epic prologue.
Not all stories need a prologue, but adding a prologue is a common trend in fantasy. It’s worth considering whether your story would benefit from one: will a self-contained mini story improve the reading experience? Can you build the world a little bit here or introduce a threat that we’d otherwise not see until chapter 30? Maybe there’s a character who could benefit from an extra scene that takes place before the main story.
While some may prefer considering the prologue in their drafting and writing stages, I think it becomes easier to know what your story needs the further through the process you are. Beta readers and developmental editors can help you decide if a prologue is necessary, so don’t worry about the purpose of your prologue while you’re drafting.
I’m interested in what others think about this: what should a prologue contain? How do you approach your prologues? Join the discussion below.
Thank you for reading CP Edits. This post is public so feel free to share it.
Share
