A prologue is an introduction scene in your novel that doesn't, at first, appear to make any sense to the reader according to what they may have read on the back cover of your book. The prologue may introduce a character who isn't an integral part of the book until later, even if only in memory, and/or a scene which is very important to the reader as it is what the entire book centers around.
Prologue Movie Example
In Tim Burton's movie Sleepy Hollow (1999), the first scene you see is a man in a powdered wig riding in a stagecoach. The man realizes the stagecoach is moving erratically. He puts his head out the window to discover a headless man driving the stage coach, so he panics and jumps from the coach. You see him running into a cornfield and coming upon a terrifying scarecrow with a pumpkin head. Suddenly, the man turns around and, as you hear a sword unsheathed, you see the look of horror on his face and then his head is taken off. The next scene takes you to New York City in 1799. At this point, there doesn't seem to be any correlation between the two, but the prologue has given you an introduction as to what the movie is about.
Subtle Clues within the Prologue
As you can see, the movie scene is set in a manner that does not slam the details of the time and place, but gives subtle clues. Seeing the man in a powdered wig riding in a stagecoach sets a time period. Discovering the headless coach driver sets the movie in the horror genre, as does the horrified look on the man's face just before his head is removed. You also know he is in the country somewhere due to the cornfield and the scarecrow.
What a Prologue Needs
Just as with a movie, if you are using a prologue to start off your novel, you will need to set the stage for your readers. They will need to know the time period, the genre of your novel, the location your particular scene takes place in and your character or characters who will give readers information on the time period, as well. Keep in mind, the prologue characters do not have to be part of the book after this point, but if they are, this is your initial introduction of them to your reader so they must be memorable. You don't want the reader to have to go back to the prologue to find out who the characters are.
Showing Action Not Telling Action
Since you do not have the luxury of film to show viewers your characters and what is happening to them, you need to be able to help them "see" what is going on, without making it obvious. You don't want your scene or your characters to be two-dimensional, so description is extremely important. An example of this is given below.
Jack stepped off the private plane with Sally only one step behind him. The air was thick, almost visible, and smelled like the dusty roads they'd lived on in Iowa.
"Wow!" What a temperature change this is," Jack said, wiping the back of his hand across his upper lip. "We've barely stepped off the plane and I'm already sweating."
Pushing her damp hair off her forehead, Sally nodded her head. "You're not kidding. I'd say this is the type of place where a bad hair day is nothing out of the norm."
Jack coughed, trying to clear his throat. "We'll need to find some place to stock up on some bottled water before we venture out there." He nodded his head toward the landscape in front of them. "It's already hard to swallow."
"Now would be a great time to be a camel," Sally replied. Suddenly, Sally turned away from Jack. "Hey, did you hear that? Elephants!"
You've met two characters here, Jack and Sally. You know it's modern times due to the private plane and bottled water and you know that they are somewhere dry, hot and dusty. There are also elephants. You know they are on an adventure, which requires stocking up on supplies. The rest of your prologue will tell why they are there.
This is the way to engage your reader using subtle clues that will sink them into your prologue and your characters. Writing in a three-dimensional manner will make your novel a page-turner that your reader cannot put down. Allowing your readers to experience what your characters are experiencing will make your novel memorable.
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