I am writing a novel, and there appear to be two ways of going about it (it may have roughly 40 short chapters) :
or
It’s your novel, structure it any way that pleases you.
I put an epilogue on my most recent effort, but no prologue. The epilogue seemed to be required, but a prologue would have seemed intrusive, and didn’t let the reader leap right into the story.
You don’t have to have both.
Yes, but I want to know what readers generally prefer, too.
A prologue and epilogue aren’t just arbitrary choices, they are meant to contain events that happened before or after the scope of the main story. If you have material that fits either of those categories, make it into a prologue or epilogue. If not, don’t.
(And name or number things any damn way you please–everyone else does.)
I don’t mind prologues, although I prefer a cold open, but epilogues have a pompous feel that can alienate.
‘Here my little readers, we must part; I hope you have enjoyed the antics of these creatures of my fancy, and to avoid keeping you permanently concerned as to what ensued after these events, I shall wrap it up and point out any morals I regard as essential.’
That’s pretty much where I prefer as a reader. Especially if the material doesn’t really fit the narrator(s) for the main story line but is necessary to lay the foundation or tie things together use the prologue/epilogue structure.
I don’t have strong feelings about prologues, but I love epilogues. I like to know the long-term effects of the events in the main story. Did they live happily ever after or not?
One trend I’ve seen all to often in modern novels is the sudden ending. You turn the page to see how things end up and there is nothing more. It feels like the printer screwed up and dropped a chapter.
You can avoid this with an epilogue, but you don’t have to use one as long as it has an actual ending. And perhaps a really good ending makes an epilogue unnecessary.
I keep hearing that prologues are out of style right now, but I agree with Darren Garrison: they’re useful for things that happen out of the scope of the main story. I often use them in my novels (urban fantasy/thriller) to set up something the antagonist is doing, or to set up some details on the situation the protagonist will have to deal with later. Almost always, my prologues are from the point of view of some secondary character (who usually ends up dying violently!)
I like epilogues, too, as long as the author doesn’t lean too hard on them. The story should do the work of tying up loose ends (even if not the way the reader hoped or expected). Epilogues are for extra tidbits or insights into the characters, or perhaps to set up something for the next book if it’s a series.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think I also misunderstood the difference between a closing chapter and an epilogue.
I adore a mini prologue.
Look, if I’ve made it to the end of your book, then – well, you’ve got me; I’ll read a short epilogue, I’ll read a long epilogue; I’m sold, is my point.
But hit me with a long prologue, and, uh, maybe? Yeah, maybe. Heck, leave out the prologue and start me off with a long first chapter; that’s a “maybe” too. This might not be worth it! I might not be into this! There’s other stuff I could be reading!
But if you can wow me, grab me, tantalize me with a prologue that sets the mood and gets me hoping to see what the heck else you’ve got up your sleeve – and it’s crisp and brisk as well as entertaining and intriguing; it’s got wit and it’s got charm, and it’s long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting – and, well, that’s how you get me while I’m still deciding whether to read the rest of it.
Think of an epilogue as something similar to those short after-the-credits scenes found in some movies.
Yeah. If I read something labelled “prologue” I’m signaled that the main body of the book will likely involve 1) different characters, 2) a different setting, or 3) a different time frame - all useful things to signal the reader to expect (otherwise, it’s an unpleasant surprise to find that the characters and situations the reader has been investing in aren’t the main story), and much the same for an epilogue.
P.S. It’s okay to deliberately surprise the reader with a sudden change in character or setting - but you need to know that you’ll be doing that.
There is a general dislike for prologues in publishing today. Most editors think it’s best to get right into the action. Usually the things in the prologue can be established later on, anyway. I did write a prologue on my current novel, but later switched it to Chapter 3.
However, like any other “rule” in writing, you can ignore it if you’re good enough. The big question is are you good enough to get away with it? And I’m afraid that can’t be answered until the book is published.
I also have an unedited novel where the first chapter is the Epilogue and the final chapter is the Prologue.
BTW, the best epilogue I ever read was in Tim Powers’s On Stranger Tides. But instead of wrapping up the action, he ramped it up higher.
It seems to me that prologues are overdone right now. If they serve a useful purpose, as stated above by Darren Garrison, they are fine. But avoid them if they are not necessary, because they become pretentious quickly. Same with epilogues.
But epigraphs and epigrams? Love them. A well-chose epigraph or two can be better than a prologue for setting up a story.
In my opinion, most novels would be improved if they just deleted the first and last chapters. Cut to the chase, leave any afterthoughts or fridge moments for the reader to discover on their own, and weave any important set up information into the actual story rather than presenting it all up front. Let the reader decide if the characters live happily ever after or if all that trauma and alcoholism catches up to them later.
The best prologues and epilogues are tangential to the main characters’ stories, while still shedding light on their stories and nicely framing the main work. If you include them, keep it short. And they really shouldn’t be interchangeable with a “chapter”. If you think it is a tossup between calling it “chapter 1” or “prologue”, it’s either definitely chapter 1, or else it can probably be dispensed with entirely. (Obviously, that’s just my opinion and even so, I don’t think it applies universally. Your mileage may vary. I’m not your editor. :))
I had to leave the epilogue in. Pepper Mill (my wife is my first critic) would’ve killed me if I didn’t tie up some of the loose ends (I knew it before I wrote it, and she confirmed it). It’s not pretentious, and it was necessary.
I seen advice like this to TV news reporters. Write your report. Cut the first and last sentence.
To me, the key to story flow is the ending. Everything prior to that must serve a purpose to lead to your ending. (How so many people write stories without thinking of an ending first is beyond me. All too often it’s leads to a disconnected or nonexistent ending.)
If you’re doing things right, the last chapter should be an ending that fulfills the arc of the story. Cutting it would be wrong. If cutting it isn’t wrong, then you are not planning out the plot well.
I’ve expressed my dislike of prologues before, in such old threads as Writers, Readers: What do you feel is the purpose of a prologue? and Book worms: How far before you realize the book that you are reading is crap?
I don’t really have a strong feeling one way or the other about epilogues.