Why Not All Prologues Are Evil (And How to Write A Good One)

Prologues should be like John the Baptist. Awesome, intriguing, paving the way for an even greater written work.

But most of the time they aren't. They're more like those dreaded "Previously on" pieces of dialogue that come before a TV show that you usually end up forwarding through.

Prologues have accumulated a lot of hate over the years. People say they're too boring. They're info dumping. They're not necessary, they're too long, they're too short, they're outdated, annoying, they lower your chances of publication by 394%.

Pffft. You're not actually going to listen to those fools, are you? I bet they're the same people who laughed at Edison and said that the Guardians of the Galaxy was going to be stupid.

Allow me to explain to you all of the brilliant things about prologues:

1. They set the mood and background of the story. It allows you to set the mood and the style of your world, people, society, conflict, etc by giving information in a way that is different from what you could have done with just a chapter. If you don't go overkill and drown your reader in backstory, this is a great capability to have.

2. They allow you to write from a different time period. You can set your prologue several years in the past, which is not as easy to do if your opening pages are within a chapter. This can help you set the stage.

3. They allow you to write from a different point of view. This lends a flexibility to the story, as it allows you to tell what is going on in a place (or a character's head) that is not generally accessible when using another POV.

4. They can tease the reader into the story. You can showcase your awesome style, give bits and pieces of your world away, and show your readers glances of the coming plot and conflict. Prologues are a great way to build tension and understanding of the story right out of the gate.

I personally have always loved a good prologue. If you're thinking of using one in your book, or perhaps already have one but are thinking of backing out because of all of the stigma surrounding them, then you're in the right place. I don't care if everybody is looking at something in your story and screaming:

via GIPHY

I don't care if it's not popular. All that matters to me is whether of not it can make a good story. Prologues can and do. So don't listen to the naysayers. Follow me. I can show you the ways of the prologue, and how to craft one that readers will enjoy:

1. Ask yourself whether you need it. Is this prologue necessary? What are you going to use it for? Is it something that can't be placed in chapter form (or sprinkled throughout several chapters) in a pleasing manner? Make sure you need it. Once you have decided that your book needs it, then it doesn't matter if the publishing and writing industry is telling you to change, to move your prologue to the trash. It is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say, no. You move.

2. Decide exactly what it is you need in your prologue before writing. Do not sit down at that keyboard before having chosen exactly what information it is you are going to put in your prologue. It needs to be relevant to the story, it needs to be interesting, and it needs to make your readers care. So keep your information concise, clear, and cool. Alliterations are optional.

3. Remember that your prologue can have dialogue. I'm not sure why this is, but many prologues are utterly void of dialogue. They don't have to be. In fact, dialogue can keep your prologue from being one of those scary blocks of text with very few spaces. Just keep the dialogue natural and allow it to have subtleties and nuances.

4. Try to keep it short. Traditionally, prologues are kept under five pages. If your prologue is extremely long, people may get bored and wonder when the "real story" begins. Also, if it's long it's possible that you are info-dumping, which is a massive no. So try to keep it brief. If you need it longer and know you can do it without being boring or monologuing or breaking tip #2, then okay. I will cheer you on.

5. Don't be afraid to write it from your villain's POV. Yep. I said it. You can open your book with a prologue, and you can open it from your villain's POV. Break two rules at once! Yay! Join the rebellion.
Think about it: It will help with your villain's complexity and it's a good way to convey tension and the conflict to come. I'm not saying you need to open your book with your villain, but if you feel so inclined, then full speed ahead!

6. Don't you dare info dump. Don't even think about it. If you do, you will become part of the group of writers who are responsible for all of the prologue-haters out there. You will make the lives of us good-prologue-writers infinitely more difficult. Nobody will publish your book, nobody will read it. You will be rejected by your readers, the publishing industry, your fellow writers who you've made life hard for. We will hunt you down and drive you out. You will find yourself huddled beneath a bridge, coffee-less and wifi-less and cursing your stupidity. Sounds bad, right? That's because it is. So don't info dump. Thank you.

7. Pull out all the stops. You know how you read about the importance of writing a really, really good first chapter? The same rule applies to prologues, only multiplied by ten. Because prologues are considered bad, you need to do everything in your power to prove that wrong. Write beautifully. Be intriguing. Craft your prologue with flair.

Make ever sentence necessary, make every paragraph flow, make the prologue your masterpiece.

8. Go watch some movies and read a good prologue. Prologues are abundant in movies, and many of them are very well done. Marvel does some darn good prologues, as did The Fellowship of the Ring, The Dark Knight, Fiddler on the Roof, John Carter. Go study them, see what techniques are used, notice what works and what doesn't. Then try to apply that to your writing. You can also read some well-done prologues. My personal favorite is from The Name of the Wind. It's what made me fall in love with the book.

9. Write it as a prologue and title it Chapter 1. I know it seems weird, and it certainly doesn't work for every prologue. In fact, I'm not even recommending that most people do this. However, if it works with your book and if you're afraid of people skipping your prologue simply because it's titled "prologue," then it's worth a shot. This is what J.K. Rowling did in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Don't believe me? Go read it. It is 100% a prologue: It takes place years before the story begins, gives valuable background information, and is written from a different POV than the rest of the series. It is a chapter in name only. But it works. Test this idea out. If it fits, feel free to run with it. Your book. Your rules.

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Prologues can be amazing. They can be beautiful and well-written and a wonderful set up for the rest of the book. Don't be afraid of them.

Still not sure if you should put a prologue in your story? Leave a comment below with questions, concerns, or your own tips for writing a killer prologue! And don't forget to tell me about some of the best prologues you've ever read!

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How and Why You Need To Schedule Your Writing Time

So you want to learn to be a better writer?

Well, I can’t help you. At least not in the way you want.

There is no specific formula for becoming a better writer. No one can teach you that. You have to learn it for yourself. How? One way is by writing. Consistently.

But telling yourself this just simply isn’t enough. My solution to this issue? I schedule my writing time.

Now I know what you’re thinking.

“But wait, you’re a writer. You can’t force creativity! You have to be in a specific mood to write!”

Lies. All lies.

Think about it. In order to become good at something, you have to practice. You have to form a habit, a schedule. Writing is no exception. Yes, it’s hard at first, but your writing will be better, your productivity will be greater, and your ideas will come more quickly.

Don’t believe me? Just give it a chance. Follow these 9 steps for 3 weeks and then see how you feel:

1. Pick a time of week and day. By choosing a specific time of day to write, you won’t be able to put it off for a ‘few minutes,’ which we all know usually turns into hours. Six years ago, I would get up 5:30 every morning to write, back when I had more energy and less trouble sleeping than my current insomnia-riddle-self. Post-community-college but pre-Covid, I would go down to a local coffee shop to write every Sunday at 7:30 AM. Now, I write every Sunday at 7:30 AM in a cozy beanbag chair at home.

The point? Pick a time you know you can write consistently. It doesn’t have to be every day, it just has to be consistent.

2. Pick a place. It’s easier to form a habit if your surroundings are the same every single time. That way, when you enter this space, your brain knows: It’s on.

3. Plan how long you want to write. No, don’t set a word count. This is possibly the worst piece of advice I’ve ever tried to follow. It just stressed me out and made me feel bad when I was unable to finish my 1,000 words by the time other duties asserted themselves. Having a minimum time limit is great because it’s not stressful and allows you to fit it into your life more easily. I like to write for at least an hour, but 20 minutes works too. There was even a time in my life where I got by on squeezing in 5 minutes of writing every other night.

Sometimes you’ll only be able to write a few paragraphs during your allotted amount of time, sometimes you’ll write a lot more than that. Don’t focus on the quantity. Just focus on building the habit.

4. Tell the world of your commitment. In this case, pride is a very helpful thing. If you tell others what you are planning on doing, you’ll be less likely to break your habit. If you have a Facebook, post every day that you stick to your plan. If you use Twitter, tweet about it. If you have a blog, post about it. Yes, you get to brag about how many days you’ve stuck to your schedule. But here’s the thing: you have to tell the world if you quit or mess up. And if you’re anything like me, that is not at all appealing.

5. Find your weaknesses and destroy them. By now, you probably have come up with reasons why this will be hard for you. Write them down and then think of ways you can make these less of an issue. If you’re afraid of sleeping in, set an alarm clock. If you might get distracted by text messages, turn off your phone. It’s easier to deal with issues before they arise, so plan out how to remove any disruptions before they happen.

6. No distractions. This time should be used for writing only. No social media, no e-mail, internet for only project-specific use. If possible, try to set up this time so that nobody else (family, friends, etc) will be around to break your focus.

7. Define writing. If you’re going to sit down and write on specific days, in specific places, at specific times, you need to have a specific definition of writing. If you’re trying to write a novel, don’t go writing a blog post. Find a category of writing you want to work in like novel writing, blog writing, short stories, or even editing and stick to that. Don’t use this time to bounce around from blogs to short stories to novels, otherwise you’ll never finish any of them.

8. Give yourself some flex-space. Even though you should define the kind of writing you are doing, try to think outside the box. For example, just because you’re going to try to write a novel doesn’t mean you need to work on the book starting at Chapter 1, moving to Chapter 2, and then 3 and so on and so forth. You can write scenes for chapter 22 even if you’re back in Chapter 4. You can go back and add scenes to Chapter 1 even if you’re almost finished with the epilogue. You can edit passages that your wrote just a few days ago. You can write out a character’s back story or a world’s history, even if it will never make it into the book. That way you won’t get stuck staring at a blinking cursor until your allotted time is up.

9. Keep it fun. Just because it’s a schedule doesn’t mean it has to be unenjoyable. Listen to music, drink some tea, eat a cookie. Find things that make you happy and surround yourself with them while you write. This is really dorky and you can laugh at me if you want – I probably deserve it – but I have a little Ariel Polly Pocket standing right next to my computer. For whatever reason, that always provides me with a lot of amusement. It’s the simple things, right?

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Now don’t let this be one of those articles you read and then shrug off! I challenge you to put these 9 steps to practice for 3 weeks (21 days). Let me know how it goes by tweeting me (@_FayeFite) or leaving me a comment. I want to hear all about it!

What are some of your favorite opening lines? Do you have any questions, tips, or tricks you'd like to share? I'd love to hear what you have to say!

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Want more blog posts like this one? Check out the posts in the categories below:

• character+world building
• writers life
• writing craft tips

8 Tips for Writing a Solid Opening Line

People are very judgmental.

And, as terrifying as it is, when people start reading your book, the first thing they will judge is that opening line. If they like it, they'll keep reading. If not? Well, your book will be rejected and will probably end up in some terrible place...like the unemployment line in Greenland. Or in a Vogon poetry-reading circle. Or Umbridge's office. Or...well, you get the point.

So how can you craft an opening line that will get people to keep reading your novel? Let me sum up:

1. Don't feel the need to write it first. Yeah, I know, I know. It's called an "opening line" because it's the first line. And "first" means the thing you do before anything else. Yeah. That's what you think. There is literally no reason to write your opening line first. Can't think of a good one? Just write something - anything - down and come back to it later. I've heard of writers who say they can't start writing their story because they can't figure out how to write their first paragraph. Don't do this. Just write the story. You can go back and edit the opening line whenever you feel like it. That's totally fine (and normal).

2. Don't just focus on the opening line. More like the opening paragraph. The reason the opening line is so important is that it sets the tone for the rest of the story. While the very first sentence can absolutely do that, it needs help from the rest of the paragraph. So yes, focus on the opening line, but make sure it has support from the opening paragraph.

3. Decide what you want the opening line to showcase. The opening line makes a statement about the story. It can set the mood, introduce a character, establish the writing style, or a mix of these things. So ask yourself: What is the main focus of this story? What makes it special and different? What makes it worth reading? If it's your writing style, you want to make sure your writing style is well-reflected in your opening line. If your protagonist is the main attraction, that first sentence should showcase them. If the mood of the story is interesting or if the plot hinges on a philosophical question, put that front and center. You want your reader to know exactly what they're getting into.

4. Remember that there are no rules. Don't feel that you need to follow any type of opening line formula. There is no such thing. You can open with dialogue. You can open with description, or action, or exposition. You can even start with a fragmented sentence or an unfinished thought. And yes, your opening line can be a single word. You can even open with a profanity (as proven by The Martian by Andy Weir). You are an author. There are no strings on you. Write how you want to write.

5. Write a ton of opening lines. Experiment! Write down dozens of opening lines if you have to. Piece them each into your opening page. Some opening lines sound good by themselves, but don't fit into the story. Some aren't particularly stunning by themselves, but make a stellar opening paragraph. Play around and see which one suits your fancy.

6. Study other opening lines. There are so, so many good ones. Read them and notice what it is that makes them good. A few that I've always enjoyed:

"It was a pleasure to burn." Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This is a "statement opening line." It makes a statement that immediately makes you wonder. Burn what? Why is it a pleasure? What is going on? It draws you in, sets the mood for the story, and establishes an important plot point (book burning).

"It was night again. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts." The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. The first sentence isn't much on its own, but that second one? Brilliant. It establishes Rothfuss's writing style and feeds into something that is a recurring theme in the novel: Silence. It also introduces the setting (nighttime at the Waystone Inn) in an intriguing way.

"I am a sick man...I am a spiteful man." Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky jumps right in and tells us exactly who the main character is: Spiteful, sick, but brutally honest. Why is he sick? Why is he spiteful? We don't know, but we want to find out now, don't we?

"People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father's blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day." True Grit by Charles Portis. A long opening line, but a good one. We immediately get a sense of the plot (avenging a father's death), the main character's voice (no-nonsense, well-educated), and even a bit of the time period (definitely not modern).

You'll notice that good opening lines always establish at least one thing about the story, but each opening line does it differently. The more opening lines you read, the more ideas you will get for your own. So go to a bookstore and just start pulling random books off the shelves to see what interesting new techniques lay within their pages.

7. Remember: Friends don't lie. Your readers are your friends, so be honest with them. You opening line should not misrepresent your plot or writing style in an attempt to draw people in. That hurts everyone involved. For example: Let's say somebody presents you with a really excellent looking brownie. But it's not until after you take a bite that they explain that it's gluten-free and dairy-free, and made of avocados. It may be an excellent gluten-and-dairy-free avocado brownie, but it wasn't what you were expecting, so it probably won't taste good to you. It's the same with books. If your opening line or paragraph makes a misleading statement, your readers will feel betrayed. Unless your story has an unreliable narrator, try to avoid this.

8. Don't panic. Some of my favorite books start out with entirely unremarkable opening lines. They're not bad opening lines per say, but they're nothing that you would end up quoting. That's fine. As long as you opening paragraph or two are interesting, you'll do just fine. You don't want to focus so much on the first sentence(s) that you forget to make the other parts of your book good, too.

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What are some of your favorite opening lines? Do you have any questions, tips, or tricks you'd like to share? I'd love to hear what you have to say!

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Want more blog posts like this one? Check out the posts in the categories below:

• character+world building
• writers life
• writing craft tips

8 Easy Details You Can Include To Add Depth to Your World-Building

World-building is the topic of the day. "Easy" is the operative word. Let's get to it.

1. Touch on subcultures. So you've got your nature-loving elves. Your grumpy dwarves. Okay. But what about the elves that want to build machines and live in houses instead of trees? Or the dwarves that believe in laughter and making daisy chains? You don't have to write a lot about them, but mentioning that they exist can instantly add incredible depth to your world. After all, no society is homogenous. There are always those who live differently. Don't forget about them.

2. Mind the POV. Your human may think nothing of dragons because she grew up on a dragon farm. But if you're writing deep POV, why are you describing the dragons in-depth as if she's never seen a dragon before? You just sucked the believability out of your world. Likewise, if you're writing distant POV, why on earth are you spending a paragraph describing what a tree looks like when there is a dragon farm on the property? Your readers want to know about that, not the tree. When world-building, keep your description tied to your POV...and keep the description interesting and relevant to the story.

3. Mention the food. If your book is set in another world or another planet, your characters aren't going to be eating the same type of food. So what do they eat? What do they drink? Making up one or two new foods will lend some reality to your world. It doesn't have to be complicated. If you can't think of any, pick a random country (or a country that inspired the world/society you've created) and look up traditional food and drink. You're bound to come up with some cool ideas.

But maybe don’t spend pages describing the food? Looking at you, Tolkien.

4. Don't forget about holidays. Every culture has holidays. So why doesn't your story have any? Wellll? Why doesn't it?

5. Throw in some superstitions. Just like holidays and subcultures, superstitions are a staple of most societies. They are either very believed in, humored, or made fun of. Add some here or there if it fits the plot. And be sure to show how each of your characters react to it.

6. Remember the animals. Again, if this is a different planet or world, the animals will. not. look. the. same. Seriously. Do your horses have to come in neutral colors? Is there a reason you have not once mentioned how annoying bugs are during your entire adventure-romp-across-the-fantasy-land story? Why aren't there spider-like creatures flying through the sky?

Wait, no. Please don’t do that last one. I will have a never sleep again.

7. Include hierarchies and family structure. Who is seen as having the most value to society? The rich? The skilled? The learned? The children? The women? The men? Why? And what about the families? Are large or small families common? Are grandparents and uncles and aunts and other blood kin treated as an important part of the family? These are all important parts of every society, but often they don't make it into world-building. Which is a shame because it can really help shape your characters and add tension and reality to the story.

8. Don't underestimate the importance of body language. Ursula knows what's up. We rely a lot on body language, yet it differs from country to country (and culture to culture). Some hand gestures are positive in one region, but rude in another. Making eye contact with non-family members or people of a different social status means nothing in one place, but is a big deal in others. Body language means a lot and it's very easy to write into a story. Take advantage of that.

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Now, there are a lot of things to think about in this post. I know you're excited. But here's the thing: Not all of these need to make it into your story. In fact, it may be a bit too confusing if you attempt this. So pick a few and weave them into your story....But only where they fit. These are meant to be seasonings, so use carefully and intentionally. Don't just dump all of them in at once and hope for the best.

Do you have any cool things you think should be included into world-building? Let's hear them!

New name, same blog (kind of, but not really)

It’s aliiiiiiiive!

And by “it,” I mean both myself and my blog.

Thank you all for waiting so patiently! For those of you who aren’t subscribed to my newsletter (c’mon, people! Get with it!), allow me to explain what’s been going on.

I changed to a pen name! Woohooo!

I’m also back from a very long hiatus! Wooohooo!

For anyone who has questions about either of these things, I’ve placed an FAQ at the bottom of this post to address those.

Now on to the real thing you’ve all been wondering about:

Yes, the blog is returning!

In true Faye Fite style, it is returning in a very unconventional way.

See, I’m starting my PhD program soon and know that I won’t have a lot of time for blogging. However, I also have a giant backlog of blog posts that I’ve published over the past five or six years. A lot of them are excellent, a lot of them could use some revamping, and a lot of them are ones you probably forgot existed because they’re so old.

So here’s what we’re gonna do:

I’m going to be editing my old blog posts and posting one each Friday here on my website. That’s right. My blogspot blog is no longer in use, so now my website is the one-stop-shop for everything Faye-related.

By “editing,” I mean: Clarifying points that confused people, adding the occasional nerd reference, ensuring all images have alt-text for all my blind/low vision readers, and just generally making these posts even more mind-bogglingly awesome than they already were.

I may throw in the occasional brand-new blog post if I feel the urge, but who knows?

By my calculations, this will allow me to continue blogging throughout my PhD program without losing my mind. Yay!

Now here’s the twist:

I’m shutting down my weekly blog post mailing list.

The reasons for this are long, complicated, and boring, so here’s what you need to know:

At the end of each month, I will be including a blog post round-up at the end of my newsletter.

If you want this round-up, make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter (be careful: It’s different from my blog mailing list! If you aren’t sure if you’re subscribed to my newsletter, might as well sign up again to be safe).

If you want to stay up-to-date with the weekly posts, you’ll need to check my website each Friday.

Taxing, I know, but I believe in you.

Alternately (or in addition to), you can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, or Pinterest. I’ll be alerting people to my new blog posts through there, too.

This “new” blog launches on Friday, February 18th!

Have any questions? Or just want to say hi after I’ve been away for so long? Leave a comment below!

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FAQ

Question: Why did you switch to a pen name?

Answer: To make a long story short: I am a researcher of nutritional metabolomics and will be pursuing my PhD in nutrition beginning Fall of 2022. It's becoming more and more confusing to have both my fictional and scientific works published under my given name (Hannah Heath), so I thought it was time to make the change.

Question: Why did you choose “Faye Fite” as your pen name?

Answer: So many reasons! A few are:

• Fite is an old family name. It also happens to encapsulate both my own personality and the personalities of many of my characters: We're fighters, through and through.

• "Faye Fite" is an ode to my given name, which is also alliterative

• Magic appears in every story I've ever published and I plan to continue this tradition, so the name "Faye" strikes me as very on-brand

Question: Why so quiet for so long? Is everything okay?

Answer: Yes, everything is going great! This is the most common question I've been getting, so I want to pause and say thank you for the concern and well-wishes. You all are the best!

I've been quiet for a variety of reasons, but the three main highlights are:

1) During the 2020-21 academic year, I focused on leading a disability activist group at my university to bring about some much-needed changes. I'm happy to say we were successful, but it took a lot of time and energy, thus the break from the internet.
2) As it turns out, applying to PhD programs is a lot of work (so many CV edits and interviews!) and I had to put most of my free time towards that. But I got into a really solid program, so it was all worth it.
3) I was recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and the treatment process for that is somewhat rigorous.

Over all, things are going well and I'm excited to be back!

Question: When is your next publication?
Answer: Soon! The Terebinth Tree Chronicles #4 will be releasing in late winter or early spring of this year. In the meantime, check out the first three books in the series and also join the Torn Universe reader's group on Discord for frequent updates!

Question: What’s up with your YouTube channel? When will you start making videos again?

Answer: My channel is temporarily closed. In order to make more time for my creative writing, I had to drop a few side-gigs, including Youtubing. I hope to open it again in a year or two and do have some really cool plans for what that will look like. However, I’m going to keep it a secret so I can dazzle you all when I finally re-launch.