I was recently asked to add an epilogue to one of my novels to help round off the book. I felt that the book ended quite nicely already, but since I’m not a publisher with many years of experience and expertise, what the hell do I know?
Of course, the advice was sound. My book now has a more comprehensive ending that ties up the loose ends and offers a more well-rounded conclusion. By including this epilogue, the reader will now feel satisfied that the characters’ lives have come to a satisfactory conclusion, and they can be left alone knowing they will prosper. Before adding it, it wasn’t clear what the rest of their lives would look like. Yes, they had overcome that immediate challenge they faced in the book, but seeing as it was a narrative nonfiction story that took place 25 years ago, we should know what the future would hold for them. And now we do.
So, here’s the prompt…
Take a look at the longer pieces you have written – a novel, novella etc. – and see whether it could do with an epilogue to really send the piece home. Perhaps you feel that your current ending is satisfying to you, but from the point of view of the reader, they might be left wanting. Reread the home straight of the piece and decide whether more can be said. And remember, the epilogue does not have to take place in the immediate timespan of the rest of the book. You can revisit the characters decades later, depending on the piece. Epilogues give you the license to jump ahead in time and check in with your characters. That’s exactly what I did with my new epilogue, and it has worked a charm.
The same principle applies for the prologue but instead consider whether there’s something to be said at the beginning of the book to set up the first chapter. Again, it can be years before Chapter One takes place, or even years after, if you’re feeling confident in your time-hopping abilities.
So, take a look at your longer manuscripts and see if they could do with some bookending – whether laying up the first chapter with a prologue, or rounding things off with a satisfying epilogue.
Happy writing!
Good to hear about a thumbs-up for an epilogue.
Very helpful advice for writers and useful for readers, too!
When I see a prologue in a book, my first thought is that the author didn’t feel confident to manage back-story in the opening chapters. I will read the prologue, start the story and then realise I have no idea of the time gap between the two. I then need to go back to check the prologue date. It is annoying, whereas if the information had been properly included in the story, the time gap would be mentioned then, when it has relevance.
The next issue is that the reader ‘should’ start to bond with the main character from the first sentence. It is annoying to find oneself bonding with the prologue character only to find you have to drop that character, or that characer as it is at the time, and start afresh a couple of pages later. So, I’m not a fan of prologues.
When I read a good romance, or feel-good story, I often feel when it ends that I would have loved a few more chapters, to revel in the happiness. Recently I have read several books by an author who does add those chapters, the epilogue as it were. I found them boring, because the pace had gone, the need to urge the plot along to have your hero win out had gone. In a way, too, it was a bit like having a cover picture which clearly shows a book scene: it doesn’t leave room for your own imagination – the purpose of a book. Once the character arc is complete, it is for the reader to imagine their life afterwards.
Other vews exist, of course, this is just my tuppen’orth.
Interesting prompt, Michael. I’ve been advised against prologues for years, by teachers, writing group members, etc. This could be that they’re currently unpopular in the U.S. maret. I appreciate your illustration of the need for an epilogue. Both my full-length manuscripts take place in the past – one in the 1970s and one in the 1990s – so I can definitely see the wisdom of an epilogue to satisfy the reader.