Why You Shouldn't Have a Prologue (And Why Rowling Did Anyway)

If there's a prologue in your manuscript, be aware that interested agents and editors will most likely try to talk you out of it. Prologues are out of vogue. They're seen as slow, cumbersome beasts that kill your book's chances before the story even begins.

Rewind to 1997.

Rowling's first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, is published with a prologue - Chapter 2 starts 10 years after Chapter 1 so it's a prologue, if not in name. It obviously didn't kill the book's chances, but was it necessary? Could the story have been stronger without it? Why or why not? It's important to ask critical questions of even the most successful books because - until you understand a rule and why it's a rule - you won't know when it's okay to break it.

That being said, here is how a prologue should NOT be used:

1. To introduce characters. A prologue should not be used to give characters a little alone time in the spotlight - no matter how important or special they are. A good way to avoid this pitfall is to look for action in the prologue: Is something happening? If not, kill your darling before your reader does it for you.

2. To "warm up" the reader. A book is not like baseball. In baseball, you most definitely should take a couple of swings before you get to the plate. But when it comes to your book, you better come out swinging on page one like you're Babe Ruth's long lost kid. Most writers open their book too early in the story. Figure out where the real action is and start there. Do not babble with a prologue - swing, baby, swing! (Find out if your first page has what it takes.)

3. To entice the reader. This is the opposite of trying to warm up the reader. You copy a chunk from an exciting scene in the middle of your book and paste it at the beginning (or you paraphrase it - but the idea is the same). This is usually a sign that your beginning needs an overhaul; if it's not interesting enough alone, then it needs work. (Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series includes just such a prologue [they call it a "preface" but, again, the idea is the same]. Her books obviously did more than fine. Rules are meant to be broken - just not often.)

4. To give background. This is probably the most abused reason for including a prologue. This might sound harsh but it's better to hear it now than read it on your rejected manuscript later: Most agents and editors see this as a lazy writer's way out. Instead of fitting the background into the story, the writer just dumps it all in the beginning so she can get on with it. This serves only the author, not the reader.

Now look at Rowling's prologue.

Chapter 1 is entitled "The Boy Who Lived." Here Rowling introduces the reader to the Dursley family and draws a connection between them and the main character, Harry Potter. She also gives the reader a glimpse of the world Harry is leaving behind and will hopefully return to someday. She writes the prologue from Mr. Dursley's point of view, while the rest of the book is solely from Harry Potter's. (Jumping POV's is typically a no-no as well, but, since Harry Potter is a baby in Chapter 1, there's really no way around it.)

What is the purpose of Rowling's prologue? Basically, it's to introduce characters and give some background.

What?!? But that's breaking the rules!

True. But why could she break the rules? Because she understood them. Her prologue had enough action and left the reader asking enough questions to convince them to turn the page. Simple as that. (Not to mention, prologues weren't so frowned upon back then.) Rowling could have just as easily incorporated her prologue into the rest of the story if necessary. Don't believe me? Think about all of the intricate backgrounds of Rowling's bigger-than-life characters that she somehow managed to relate without stopping the story.

When it comes down to it, writing is still an art. Yes, there's a science to it, but there's no checklist out there that can promise you a bestseller if you follow it slavishly. So learn the rules . . . but also learn how to break them.

Now look at your manuscript. Does it have a prologue? If so, step back and look at it with a critical eye. Ask yourself two important but basic questions:

1. Is it necessary? (Remember, most books published today don't have prologues, which means that most of them can survive without it, so be honest.)

2. If it isn't necessary, is it good enough that you won't lose your reader at the end of it? Because that's what matters.

If I'd observed all the rules, I'd never have got anywhere.

~ Marilyn Monroe