THE POWER, THE PERIL, THE PROLOGUE

As a writing coach and college professor, I keep current on what agents and editors want because outside of basic craft instruction, those are the secrets/tips/tricks that aspiring writers most want. One of the prologue “rules” I’ve heard plenty of times is a variation on the following:

•“Most agents hate prologues.”—Andrea Brown (president of Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc.)

•“Damn the prologue, full speed ahead!”—Laurie McLean (founding partner, Fuse Literary)

•“I am fully settled into the I Hate Prologues camp … I go so far as to NOT read them in a manuscript.”— Janet Reid (agent at New Leaf Literary & Media)

In short, a lot of smart story people want novel prologues to die a quick and seemingly necessary death.

But is that really the best advice to follow, along the lines of, say, squeezing the tube of toothpaste from the bottom, only packing what you can carry, and sending thank-you notes to editors who buy your work?

Let’s take a closer look at the reasons why a prologue might be a splendid narrative choice, and as well as a few reasons why those prologue-deniers might be right.

POWER 1: THE HOOK

Freelance editor and former literary agent Lorin Oberweger gives a good explanation of what a prologue does when it works well. “The best prologues,” she says, “raise questions, convey some sense of mystery, launch us into the story in a compelling way, and always contain a strong element