By Charlotte Hinger
In this blog I've complained about novels that have a beginning, a middle, and a middle. That's it! No end in sight. My husband once said he thought the author simply got tired of writing. It's a common enough phenomenon in literary short stories.
Such tail-less tales are frequently published in a magazine I'm too cowardly to name. It specializes in absolutely exquisite writing that goes absolutely nowhere.
Apparently a lot of editors feel the same way. Gotta end the book, they say. So, the writer comes up with an epilogue.
Epilogues should not be necessary. The strongest books conclude the narrative in the last chapter. Stick to the story you are telling. It's not necessary to know what happened to your characters fifteen years in the future.
Readers, as well as people in the real world, like to be present at important events. We want to be present at a wedding. One of the best ending chapters I've read lately is contained in Margaret Miszushima's latest book, Gathering Mist. Not only does it tie up a plot complication that has continued throughout her series, it's a terrific finale to this particular book. We are gloriously present at this wonderful wedding. An epilogue statement such as "fifteen years later, they were still happily married . .." would have paled in comparason.
There's a sure test for using a prologue. It should precede the primary narrative. If it could be a scene in the book, don't use a prologue. The same advice applies to an epilogue. If the conclusion could be covered in the last chapter, do that. Conclusions are hard to write. They are nearly as difficult as a first chapter.
Prologues should never jar the reader. I recently read a beautifully written novel that included an epilogue. It ruined the book. The voice used for the ending was different from the one used for the body of the book. It was simple and childlike. Along the lines of "Jack threw the ball." Only these sentences read like "Jim went to prison for a long time." "His wife got a divorce and married someone else." "His children suffered."
The main thing to remember about epilogues is they don't compensate for a weak ending or lazy writing.
There's a sure test for using a prologue. It should precede the primary narrative. If it could be a scene in the book, don't use a prologue. The same advice applies to an epilogue. If the conclusion could be covered in the last chapter, do that. Conclusions are hard to write. They are nearly as difficult as a first chapter.
Prologues should never jar the reader. I recently read a beautifully written novel that included an epilogue. It ruined the book. The voice used for the ending was different from the one used for the body of the book. It was simple and childlike. Along the lines of "Jack threw the ball." Only these sentences read like "Jim went to prison for a long time." "His wife got a divorce and married someone else." "His children suffered."
The main thing to remember about epilogues is they don't compensate for a weak ending or lazy writing.
