pro prologues

Let's talk about prologues. I added one at the beginning of draft three, realizing that I needed to share an event from Luna's early life, from someone else's perspective. But I haven't been super happy with it. I'm not sure it hooks in the same way that good prologues hook and make you want to delve into the first chapter IMMEDIATELY to figure out what is going on. I'm hopeful that I'll get there in time with tweaking.

Here are some things I'm keeping in mind for crafting a better and more captivating prologue:

1. Write the prologue AFTER the book. Then, you're able to convey an event or depth to the story instead of writing a whole book that tries to match the prologue you wrote first. To me, it makes more sense to see the value for a prologue after the story is written.

2. If your book doesn't delve into other perspectives, the prologue is a great place to give us insight into a different character.

3. I think the prologue should end with some type of question that needs answering. Even if it's just (hopefully!) your reader being like, "What's going on?"

4. Think about timeline in your prologue. How does the event in the prologue fit into the story? How much time passes between the prologue time and the book time?

Just a few thoughts. AND NOW, sharing my own prologue that I'm definitely not happy with yet, but hoping that putting it out here helps me get it to a place I love. Or can at least tolerate.

Before:

“Indeed, she glows. It’s good you brought her in,” the head of the Vis Group said. He willed his heartbeat to slow, lest his eagerness show.

“Should we be worried?” Leo asked.

Professor Lyons wasn’t listening to Luna’s parents. His eyes were fixed on the glow permeating from the girl's white blond hair. Could she be the one he was waiting on all these years? He needed to run tests, confer with the others, prepare for her training. They only had eleven years to get the girl ready.

Professor Lyons approached the girl, held out his hand to hers. And grabbed her finger hard. White sparks appeared at once, singing his skin. But he didn’t pull away. This was the key, right here. He noted that Leo and Celeste watched in horror, but not surprise. They too had seen the sparks. It was crucial they didn’t interfere further.

“You should be proud. Luna is extraordinary. But she must be trained. We will see to the training. Luna will exhibit strange behaviors. You are not to restrict her in any way. We can assure you she will be protected. She will be assigned a Watcher, and gifted with a powerful protective serum while she begins her training.”

“Training for what? She’s just a child. How can we know she’s safe?”

“Because the future of Star’s End depends on her safety. This will all come to fruition when she turns sixteen. Until then, enjoy her.”