Prologues are such a hit or miss. Some people love them and some people hate them… though I tend to see more people hate them than love them.

I personally don’t mind prologues. As long as they’re done the right way.

What is a prologue?

A prologue is the pre-chapter of a book. It goes before the first chapter and acts as an introduction of sorts. Prologues can try to accomplish a few different things:

• Peek into the future
• Delve into the past
• Shine some light on a certain character

Prologues can, I believe, do more than that, but those are the most common I’ve seen. (They’re also the types of prologues I’d prefer.)

Do you really need a prologue?

Before you write the prologue, ask yourself,

• What will my prologue accomplish? How will it contribute to the story?

If the answer is anything that I stated above or something…