Should your novel have a prologue?

A question I’m asked frequently as a literary agent is should my novel have a prologue? And the answer isn’t clear cut. I was interested to see in a Slack group I’m part of that many agents have strong opinions on prologues, with several arguing that authors shouldn’t use prologues at all. I’m somewhere in the middle of the argument; I think they can serve a useful purpose, but sometimes they aren’t needed. Read on to see when I feel they can be useful and when they aren’t, and then make a decision on whether you need to keep your own prologue.

A prologue is an introductory chapter, that opens your novel. It is often, but not always, shorter than the average chapter. Often it features events the precede the main action in the story, but sometimes it takes an event from later in the novel and uses it as a teaser for what is to come. Usually it sets the tone, introduces important characters and themes or provides backstory.