What do I think?
I really don't like it when the prologue is merely a scene taken out of the action section of the novel and stuck at the front to give me a taste of what's coming. Why would I want to know what's coming? That's why I'm reading the book!
But I think that when it's a short (and important - duh!) scene that has happened prior to where your novel begins, and you want your reader to know the info from the start and not figure it out from backstory later on, then it can work.
What do important people Out There think?
Sherry, an aquisitions editor for a small yet prestigious publisher, says NO to the prologue, feeling that if your novel needs to begin with one then you're basically saying that your writing and your opening chapters aren't strong enough to pull the reader into the story. Click here to see her "few damn good explanations" on why you don't need a prologue.
Author Kristen Lamb blogged on the 7 Deadly Sins of Prologues, and the 2 Virtues (yes, you saw that right, there are only 2 virtues!). I've outlined them below, but you can click here to get more detail.
Sin #1. If your prologue is really just a vehicle for massive information dump...
Sin #2. If your prologue really has nothing to do with the main story...
Sin #3. If your prologue's sole purpose is to "hook" the reader...
Sin #4. If your prologue is overly long...
Sin #5. If your prologue is written in a totally different style...
Sin #6. If your prologue is uber-condensed world-building...
Sin #7. If your prologue is there solely to set the mood...
Nathan Bransford on the prologue: "Typically it is 3-5 pages of introductory material that is written while the author is procrastinating from writing a more difficult section of the book.
Ah, I'm kidding."
Bottom line: in general, agents hate prologues.
BUT, you still see novels getting published with prologues in them.
What do YOU think?
Go ahead... Clicky, clicky...
