Marilyn's Musings

On the Sisters in Crime listserve, a big discussion has been going on about whether or not to use a prologue. Most authors say, "No, just start with chapter one." Some said they never read prologues. That one I can't imagine. Sometimes a prologue sets the tone for the whole novel. Frankly, the last couple of years, I've been hearing that prologues are no longer acceptable from nearly everyone in the publishing business. On the other hand, one of the authors in the discussion said neither her agent nor her publisher had ever told her not to use a prologue. I guess this is one of those "rules" and you know what they say about writing rules, once you know them you can break them. Have I ever used a prologue? Four times that I can remember. One I did in Wishing Makes it So which is about a really evil little girl. The prologue was from the point-of-view of the girl and sets the stage for the rest of the story. All the rest comes from the POV of her f...