960377
Depends I suppose on how long your story is going to be, for me I think a good length is around 2.5k-2.8k but everyone has their own opinion.

If I would write one it would be 2000-4000 words.

as long as you please

960377

It matters what you are writing, there is no concrete number. It depends if you need to describe a battle that took place 11,100,000 years ago (the Lord of the Rings) or like me where you use 400 words to give off the fact that the main character is dead, and then the story begins 30 years earlier.(my prologue is also a part of the first chapter)

Also, if the story is like (I cant believe im saying this because of how much i dislike this fic) Past Sins, the whole idea of the prologue is useless because it could just as easily be ch 1.

Prologues should be the same length as any story, or part of a story: Long enough to cover everything, short enough to be interesting (like a skirt!).

A prologue is not defined by its length, but rather by the fact that it covers something before the main story starts.

960377

I've had a video prologue. (Not published yet.) I've also had them anywhere from 500-2000.

It depends on what you're writing about, and the quality.

960377 960487
This. So very much this.

My first story here required a prologue, and the whole thing ended up at around 12K words. A few people suggested I should have broken that up, but a prologue is defined by its placement in regards to the main story and not length. So it stays as is.

Several real authors enjoy pretty extensive prologues (Anyone familiar with the Wheel of Time series will know that quite well.), so don't let the community's fear of length guide you (unless, I don't know, you like pandering to, in order to get, popularity). Listen to the Story that wants to be told. It knows best.

960508 My Dead Rising cross over prologue is only about 300 words and all it describes is a fight between the Protagonist (Frank West.) Fighting the agtagonist (TK) and in the end it describes how they ended up in Equestria.

960535
Three.
hundred.
Thousand.......

960508
if it feels like it works, than yes. If its like Indaina Jones 3, where its his origin and whatever and cuts to the story, than it would work.

(im just bullshitting out my ass here)
But if its like this, "Explorer and ambassador dad go to palace, terrorists attack, dad dies right before future explorer, feels are kicked". but the next chapter is "futuer explorer escapes from the underseige palace." than it should be chapter 1.

960390 I wrote a 6k word prologue one time. So long as the prologue makes sense, and it leads to somewhere, it's all good.

960377 The proper answer is, "whatever suits your style." I have a rule of thumb for those about "half the length" of the usual chapter. Generally speaking, I usually go from 2500 to 4000 words on a chapter, so I'll go from 1200 to 2000 on those. Do what works though. If there's a line or paragraph that's boss and works great, than use it. Length be damned.

To me the prologue should be shorter than your average chapter. Anything longer and it is just chapter 1.

960557No three hundred, reread my comment I never said three hundred thousand. But yeah as long as the prologue makes sense it's good.

960509
Well, there is ALSO no reason you can't technically have "Prologue, Part 1", and "Prologue, Part 2".

I'm dumb.

What does the prologue has to contain?

961537
Except that's excessive and unnecessary. A prologue is a single entity. Show me one book that does that.

961642
With a book you can put your bookmark on any page. This site records what you have and haven't read by the chapter, thus (and for other reasons) having a chapter too long is a real logistical discouragement to some readers. Thus the difference comes with the medium.

Now, having a prologue 12k words long (regardless of how you split it up), is rather... unusual in and of itself, but there is no reason you CAN'T do it.

961377
Sorry, but i remember there being a K after 300, thus 300,000

961664
Respectfully disagree. I get that a lot of people dislike large fictions, but I'm not one of them. If something needs to be long, I'm going to write it long, however the public might react. Really, the fact that so many people immediately get turned off just because something has a little heft to it is rather disheartening. Granted, not being able to mark your place is lame...but good lord, is it THAT hard to simply remember?

961722
It can be annoying to find where you left off for some people I would think.

What I think I would like to see you explain in a bit more details is how taking something really long, and splitting it into two chapters, then publishing them at the same time if necessary does any harm to the flow of the story, as long as you take the time to find a half-way reasonable break-point.

By way of example, I listen to audiobooks on my fancy cell phone. The books are split up into sections to make the downloading process work better. I don't see that breaking a chapter is any more harmful than that. As far as I can see, the thematic chapter breaks DON'T have to be the only chapter breaks, and, for instance, "The Discovery, Part 1" and "The Discovery, Part 2" seems to me to make it clear that the chapter break is not a thematic one. On the other hand, with my current story, I have " Quarantine Period, Part 1: In which Freak-Outs are Prevented", and "Quarantine Period, Part 2: Twilight Sciences the Tartarus out of Fluttershy", which gives a sense of connection, but with sub-catagories that are differentiated to an extent.

So can you explain in a little more detail why that first example doesn't work for you?

960487
I'm ambivalent about prologues in general. And think that the thought here is the correct one.

But the real reason I'm responding is because that's got to my favorite analogy ever. And I will forever think of the topic of the story or chapter length in that way, to the day that I die.

962181
Well, I didn't invent it just take the time to relay it, but you are welcome.