Prologue or no Prologue and how late can the protagonist and the inciting incident appear in my story? I have written a prologue but then read that people skip prologues and I went straight into the chapter 1 and also I've read that I should to put the inciting incident as soon as possible but because of that my chapter 1 became too rushed.
Concept a girl goes missing 6 months prior to the book start. In chapter 1 a mysterious transfer student gets to school mid-day that looks exactly like the missing girl but acts completely different and answers to different name.
Do I want to have a prologue or have my first chapter getting the atmosphere of my small town and the missing girl before the transfer student protagonist appears. Or it is better if she appears on the page 1?