Prophecies that Don't Suck

Prophecies… arguably one of the worst fantasy clichés, right up there with hidden farmboy royalty and Dark Lords. Most of the time, especially in amateur fantasy, prophecies are done horribly, but it does not have to be so. Rick Riordan does a good job with his prophecies, as does T.A. Barron. Let's look at what can be done to make these sucky things suck less.

1. Do not begin with your prophecy.

Nothing says, "Badly-written epic fantasy here!" than a prophecy introduced before the characters are.

2. Make it short.

When the full moon sets on fall's final day,

The monster ancient shall arise from the bay.

With teeth and talons and tongues of flame,

He shall lay waste, as if playing a game.

The beast's great foe must first be found,

Before the creature's roar does sound.

Cliche, yeah, but simple and short. To the point. No one wants to read a five-page prophecy, before or after they meet the characters.

3. Make it obscure. Make it ambiguous. Make it not directly spell out what will happen throughout the entire book.

Look at this prophecy.

The traitor shall fall,

atop the city wall.

If your villain is always referred to as a traitor, then it's pretty obvious. But say you have a hero or two with not-so-heroic pasts, both of which involve betraying someone. Then it's more interesting. The villain very well could survive the encounter. But does "fall" necessarily mean "die"? Maybe it means they will literally fall, and perhaps survive (although maybe end up paralyzed from the waist down).

I once had a prophecy in a story I wrote when I was about 8 or 9, that literally gave instructions for what would happen throughout the rest of the story. Also, the names of landmarks and cities were conveniently named to rhyme with words like "all". Do not emulate. 

4. It need not rhyme.

Just like other forms of poetry, prophecies don't have to rhyme, though they should have other poetic elements. This applies especially in a fantasy story where the prophecy is cast in an older language or that of another race. It may rhyme in that language, but it should certainly not rhyme in English. That would be creepy. I'd like to note here that I like rhyming prophecies. Still, they don't have to.