I begin my book Mahabharata: The Eternal Quest with three quick
prologues. What the heck is a prologue for anyway? And three? What’s with that?
After the book’s introduction (if it has one), your story
begins. But before (pro – Greek) the story gets underway (lego – the telling) ,
do you want to drop in a prologue? The prologue might provide clues as to the
theme of the book or set up the mood or describe events that happen before the
main story begins to anticipate the underlying conflict of the story or might
introduce one of the main characters in an offbeat way. And that’s why I have
three.
Prologues do those things and more. A prologue could even be
like the coming attractions and poise questions and situations to titillate the
reader, or it could provide a predicament which is then totally dropped, only
to surface again much later in the book. You have to figure out if your book
warrants a prologue and how to use it to your best advantage.
