{"id":2757,"date":"2013-11-08T13:11:42","date_gmt":"2013-11-08T21:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.harperkingsley.net\/blog\/2013\/11\/to-epilogue-or-not-to-epilogue\/"},"modified":"2023-10-17T23:37:54","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T06:37:54","slug":"to-epilogue-or-not-to-epilogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/to-epilogue-or-not-to-epilogue\/","title":{"rendered":"To Epilogue Or Not To Epilogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been told that prologues are too much in this day and age. They’ve lost their popularity and people simply don’t like them. Readers want to get straight to the meat and potatoes of a story.<\/p>\n

When I heard no prologues, I was a bit disappointed, but I said “All right.” I can deal with the idea of getting right to the story without introductions or delays. I’m an adult; there were very few tears. Yet now people are saying they don’t want epilogues either? Well gee thanks, Harry Potter, yet another thing old scar head has ruined for the rest of us.<\/p>\n

I suppose that I’ve been abusing the privilege of epilogues somewhat by using them to foreshadow the next story, but what else am I supposed to do? When you get rid of my precious prologues, there has to be somewhere where I can stick all that great pre-story, not really part of the story, story stuff. Yet reviewers have said they would prefer no epilogue at all.<\/p>\n

Take Heroes & Villains for example. The epilogue is the beginning of Allies & Enemies. There’s a glimpse of their life in the future, the introduction of one of the main characters of Allies & Enemies, and a general idea of where things are going to go. It’s an intrinsic tie-in to Allies & Enemies, but would have made a terrible prologue.<\/p>\n

Which leaves me wondering what I should do with the epilogue I wrote for Allies & Enemies. Leave it in? Dump it? I have no idea.<\/p>\n

These are the hardest parts of writing for me. Wanting to please the reader, but not wanting to displease myself. I mean, without the epilogue, the story seems incomplete to me, yet it’s not part of the story itself. It’s the afterward, the introduction, the wrap up of one part and the opening of the next.<\/p>\n

To epilogue or not to epilogue, that is the question.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Catch some of my free stories at Kimichee: Read Something<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been told that prologues are too much in this day and age. They’ve lost their popularity and people simply don’t like them. Readers want to get straight to the meat and potatoes of a story. When I heard no prologues, I was a bit disappointed, but I said “All right.” I can deal with…<\/p>\n Read More<\/span> To Epilogue Or Not To Epilogue<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"Layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-harperkingsley0-0","post-2757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-kindled"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2pPoL-It","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":136,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/messing-around-with-bookiejar-a-how-not-to-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":2757,"position":0},"title":"Messing around with BookieJar (a How-Not-To-Do)","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"October 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"It took awhile for \"Heroes & Villains\" to show up on BookieJar.com, then I had to go back over it again and make some changes. In the process, I figured out a few things: 1) For chapters use Heading 1 so that each chapter becomes a separate section in your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Novels"","block_context":{"text":"Novels","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/novels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4287,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/sorry-about-not-updating-hvu-yet\/","url_meta":{"origin":2757,"position":1},"title":"Sorry about not updating HVU yet","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"March 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Sorry about the lack of HVU update. I'm going to have to update later today -- after my trek through the pouring rain. I'll post a lined and colored version of this pic later. I've got a little story in my head about what's happening here.","rel":"","context":"In "Mailed"","block_context":{"text":"Mailed","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/kindled\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/cerealmilk.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/cerealmilk.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/cerealmilk.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2571,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/you-wasted-my-time-ficcer-and-now-i-kinda-hate-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":2757,"position":2},"title":"You wasted my time, ficcer, and now I kinda hate you","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"July 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\"This is the story that never ends. Yes, it goes on and on, my friends. Some people started reading it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue reading it forever, just because...\" I get it. You're writing fanfic, natural rules do not apply, blah blah blah. But maybe there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Journal","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/journal-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"MrYukSticker","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/MrYukSticker.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":193,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/if-youre-curious-these-are-all-the-things-ive-written-and-published-so-far\/","url_meta":{"origin":2757,"position":3},"title":"If you’re curious, these are all the things I’ve written and published so far:","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"December 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a list of all I've written and published in order of when they were written: \"Fantasy\"--full-length novel. One of the first novels I ever finished, which shows in how rough around the edges it is. Still, it will always be one of those things that I love and come\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Life"","block_context":{"text":"Real Life","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/real-life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4455,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/im-going-releasing-paradigm-shift-gregor-soon\/","url_meta":{"origin":2757,"position":4},"title":"I’m going to be releasing “Paradigm Shift: Gregor” soon","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"June 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I met with a therapist, and he was a very nice person. He suggested that I submit a manuscript even if I'M not ready. So I've been thinking, and I'm releasing a book--\"Paradigm Shift: Gregor\". It is not the completed version of \"Paradigm Shift\" that I imagine in my head,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "coming soon"","block_context":{"text":"coming soon","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/coming-soon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":964,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/upcoming-revisions-and-rundowns\/","url_meta":{"origin":2757,"position":5},"title":"Upcoming Revisions and Rundowns","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"June 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"THE RED BEAD -- So what the hell is this? Well, I watched \"The Black Donnellys,\" \"Hatfields & McCoys\" and \"The Sopranos\" and my little brain started percolating. Then I read the bios of a couple of guys named John Brisker and Jack Johnson, and of course I'm completely in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "What's up buttercup?"","block_context":{"text":"What's up buttercup?","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/whats-up-buttercup\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2757"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6285,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2757\/revisions\/6285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}