I wonder if this topic label is too strong? Mods if it feels too strong please edit it down for me. Prologues are just such interesting topic, most people I see tend to be in two camps. 1. BURN THEM ALL! 2. Leave them alone! Even if I don't really like them they are valid! For this thread. I actually present a very precise challenge. I want to see people try and submit a story idea that a prologue would be the best artist choice for. Like, an idea that is improved by it because there is no other answer that works as nice as a prologue. And I think it might be nice to see people brainstorming in their favor. Course the other side of this being for those that hate them to critique are use of them. If a burn them all person gives me a thumbs up, or any of us. Then I know it must be right! So, pitch this thread a prologue that is needed, judge a pitch or just post a deep thought on prologues please. My pitch. In one such story I want to write, it is about a terrorist whose true idenity was unknown but persona was quite well known. The terrorist dissappeared after committing a very volient act. The story is about two young adults who together try to ressurect the persona by becoming it. They are the POV, and all the trouble they get into for trying is the bulk of the plot. It seemed like it could be a very interesting prologue to be in the POV of the real terrorist during her final act. Since to the culture of this world, people know her by name(to some degree) just as everyone has a thought in there head if I say Hilter. And instead of forceful exposition to express who this indentity is. I could have a prologue giving you that information.
That's a good reason for a prologue, and kind of what I want to do for my story. Originally, the villains (and thus, the reasons behind the plot) don't really appear until waay into the story because the two MCs are the sole POV characters, so I had to figure out how to introduce it earlier. I hit on a solution by adding a third POV - the one who drags the MCs into the plot. He knows that the bad guys are up to something, but not what, so I thought it a good opportunity to drop some hints along with introducing him as a real character instead of the plot device he currently is. Honestly, I don't know why people are so opposed to prologues. Probably because they're overused. I guess it's one of those things that most people don't know how to use properly.