I wonder if it's a sign of the times. Years ago, people had attention spans to handle drawn out stories and things like prologues and epilogues. Today, with a soundbite universe and everything coming quickly and stripped down, are readers more apt to be "Just get to the action!!!" than they used to be? I know it is also reflected in movie scripts where the average amount of dialogue has dropped in the last 25 years or so.
To me, a prologue is necessary if the information you need to establish seems disjointed or too formulated when presented in the main plot line. If it is just setting or history that is a "nice to know" but doesn't start the plot or move it along, you should rethink it. But that's just me. And I prefer prologue over flashback, although I have used both. But that's another discussion...
I wonder if it's a sign of the times. Years ago, people had attention spans to handle drawn out stories and things like prologues and epilogues. Today, with a soundbite universe and everything coming quickly and stripped down, are readers more apt to be "Just get to the action!!!" than they used to be? I know it is also reflected in movie scripts where the average amount of dialogue has dropped in the last 25 years or so.
To me, a prologue is necessary if the information you need to establish seems disjointed or too formulated when presented in the main plot line. If it is just setting or history that is a "nice to know" but doesn't start the plot or move it along, you should rethink it. But that's just me. And I prefer prologue over flashback, although I have used both. But that's another discussion...
I think that there are literary fashions! Prologues will be back.