Prologue lengths

[Ivonia]

What's a generally accepted length for a prologue (and does it matter that much ultimately)? I've read the other posts about the pros and cons of them, and for my Sci-fi/Fantasy story, I've ultimately decided that the beginning of my story should definitely start out as a prologue, rather than chapter 1 (the biggest reasons: The event that occurs in the prologue takes place fifty years prior to the events of Chapter 1; it occurs on a different planet, and the surviving character from the prologue doesn't appear again until Chapter 3, although he has since become a "Hitler-type figure" by that point. In the prologue he's more or less a "typical" college student trying to survive his "summer job" as an archaeologist assistant).

My main character and his friends do discuss what they know about the prologue character from their POV. A brutal and bloody fifteen year civil war occurs on his planet, and he eventually wins (and does more things in between, but basically his species is constantly warring once that civil war starts). He also seems to be able to control monsters, which are normally wild and largely untameable on the main character's planet, but they don't know how or why he can do that (the prologue covers this).

So far, my prologue is about 5.5k words, and takes up about 26 pages on Word (with the roughly correct format of 1 inch margins and 12pt Courier. I don't have plain ol' Courier for some reason, I have "Courier Old" and "New", so I suppose old is better?). Is that okay, or should I just say fudge it and make it chapter 1? I know how some people loathe reading prologues, and you probably could get away without reading it, as the events in Chapters 1-3 cover some aspects/aftermath of the prologue (mostly via dialogue, kind of like how sometimes people will talk about politics in real life you know?), but it only covers what happens afterwards, and it doesn't tell you how that one guy is able to do all of those things and succeed (the prologue tells you, and yes, the event is vital to the main plot of the story. It will seem like a side story at first, but as the story goes on, readers and the main character will start to see the connections).

I still feel that it fits better in the story as a prologue, rather than a main chapter. What do you say, and why? Would that be okay, or am I going to get hung (figuratively speaking of course :tongue ) for including a prologue?

[katiemac]

If you think the prologue works, then stick with it. As for length, prologues I've seen are normally short (5 pages, tops), but I recently read a novel where the prologue was the length of every other chapter (just about ten pages). I would have assumed it would work just like a regular chapter, except it was written in first person whereas the rest of the book was third.

In my opinion (there may be others here to disagree), the length of the prologue doesn't have much concern. After all, it's part of the story. The number of chapters you have and how you break them up doesn't really matter in the end -- the reader, after all, is interested in the story, not the page numbers.

[Jonny Ryan Mac]

My prolouge takes place 120 years befor the start of my book.

Is this normal? Is that too much of a time jump?

[katiemac]

Is this normal? Is that too much of a time jump?

The time elapse doesn't matter as much as the importance of it to your story. As long as there's reason for it and it makes sense, the readers won't care how large the time difference is.

[Ivonia]

The time elapse doesn't matter as much as the importance of it to your story. As long as there's reason for it and it makes sense, the readers won't care how large the time difference is.

Whew, that's good to know hehe. I forgot to mention that the "prologue character" discovers a secret in the temple that's been sealed away for the last three thousand years (it does tie-in for the current story, but I'm saving that storyline for a prequel book later on, if this book does well).

[maestrowork]

My prolouge takes place 120 years befor the start of my book.

Is this normal? Is that too much of a time jump?


Does it offer anything to the readers with regard to the main story? Do the readers need to know? Or if it's just background information for YOU?

If the answers to the first two questions are "yes" then go ahead. Otherwise, you will have your readers asking, "Why is this relevant?"

As for length, a LONG (26 pages, you say?) prologue seems excessive (it's longer than a lot of short stories!) but if it works... and it better pays off or is highly relevant to the main story! Ask your betas what they think.

[firehorse]

If your readers don't have to assimilate all the information before they read Chapter 1, you might consider inserting flashbacks along the way. That would break down the size and maybe make it more immediately relevant to each situation.

I have nothing against prologues, though. My experience has been they're usually the same length as other chapters, maybe a little shorter.