What is an Epilogue—and Should You Write One?

Most writers have wondered if they should write a prologue, but what about an epilogue? Is the little bonus scene after your main story a perfect way to end your novel?

Much like a well-executed prologue—the introduction at the beginning of a story—an epilogue should be short and sweet, adding something new and surprising to your narrative. When executed well, this concluding section can have a reader closing a book with a real sense of satisfaction. (Learn more about how to write a prologue here.)

So, how can you tell if your story would benefit from having an epilogue? And if you decide to write this final scene, how can you get it right? In this article, author and writing coach Amanda Reynolds guides us through the meaning of an epilogue, when and how to write one, and some deft examples of this literary device.

What is an epilogue?

Derived from the Greek epilogos (‘conclusion’) and the Middle English ‘epiloge,’ an epilogue is often utilized to wrap up so-called ‘loose ends’ in the narrative or introduce a new plot beat for a sequel. It can be a useful way to provide a solidifying and satisfying conclusion to a story. Elements like the action, voice, or setting can be set apart from the main story in the context of an epilogue to illuminate or strengthen what’s gone before.

What does an epilogue do?

Epilogues in novels today often convey the passage of time. They can portray an event that occurs possibly weeks, months, or years ahead of the reality in which your main plot has effectively concluded.

They move the story along, allowing for changes in the lives of your characters, and while tangential in some cases, epilogues have an impact on everything that has come before.

Should all stories have an epilogue?

As we always say at The Novelry, it’s a case of tools not rules. However, there are some things to consider when deciding whether to write an epilogue...

Endings are important to readers

An epilogue is the last thing your audience reads—and those final thoughts linger. If your reader has been hooked from the beginning of your story all the way to the end, we don’t want to let them down at the last stand. An audience will forgive most things, but not a disappointing ending! Like every other part of your story, an epilogue must earn its place.

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Consider the purpose of your epilogue 

If you’re confident that your story would be enhanced by the addition of an epilogue, that’s a good start—but you need to drill down further. Think about these questions, and try to be honest:

• Why write an epilogue rather than finish with the last chapter?
• Has the action moved on, perhaps with a significant amount of time elapsing?
• Has new evidence come to light, potentially in the words of a different and surprising narrator?

Endings don’t have to be neat, and neither do epilogues

While it can be tempting for an epilogue to tie everything up with a nice bow of words, this can be a lazy way to talk to the reader, imparting information that could have been revealed beforehand. Make sure your epilogue shows the reader something that adds to your narrative without repeating it, and that the tone is consistent with the world of your novel and its genre.

Examples of epilogues in literary works

It’s vital that an epilogue not only brings the story to a conclusion but adds something to it. Let’s look at some examples in action.

Epilogues in crime and thriller

In this genre, authors often use epilogues to overturn previous misconceptions, or maybe to have something the reader has believed all along be called into question. The epilogue in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None famously introduces a final twist (an example chosen by The Novelry’s founder, Louise Dean, who loves an epilogue).

In my psychological thriller Lying To You, the events in the final chapter—its epilogue—take place many months after the conclusion has been reached.

Or has it?

This jump in time allows some characters (no spoilers!) to move on in surprising ways, providing new information that flips previous (mis)conceptions around. The additional plot beats are important because they reward the reader’s patience in reading on. The expectation that there is more to know than they thought is met and—hopefully—exceeded.

Epilogues in children’s fiction

Here, epilogues can play forward in time to the main character’s adulthood. In the final Harry Potter installment, for example, we see the next generation of wizards and witches heading off to Hogwarts.  

When epilogues work

Jojo Moyes’s Me Before You  has a wonderful example of an epilogue in which the main character, Lou, goes to Paris. Sitting in a cafe, she reads a letter from Will, the person she loves, something he told her she should only do in Paris, with croissants and coffee. It’s a bittersweet moment but a beautiful and life-affirming scene to end the novel.

Bestselling author Clare Mackintosh says of her equally poignant novel After The End :

I knew I wanted to give Pip and Max some closure, and I also thought the reader deserved to see a happy ending after the sadness in parts of the book. But with two such different storylines, bringing closure to one was sure to upset those readers who were emotionally invested in the other! I decided to write the epilogue ambiguously; one that leaves the reader to decide.
—Clare Mackintosh

This epilogue fits beautifully with the structure of Clare’s novel. It’s satisfying despite—or, indeed, because of—its ambiguity.

When epilogues don’t work

An epilogue should never be an info dump (something we discuss in more detail in our blog on exposition) or a quick play to create a neat ending.

In romance, the expectation of Happily Ever After can be well executed and even subverted in a well-placed epilogue. However, it isn’t always wise or necessary to spell out exactly what that future looks like.

As editor Emily Kitchin explains:

I’ve seen this quite a lot, and to me, it feels a bit tired and old-fashioned, like there’s only one particular way for the characters to be happy. If your characters have an emotionally satisfying arc and love story, then you don’t need to show it. The reader can imagine what the future looks like for them!
—Emily Kitchin

The true purpose of an epilogue

Mahsuda Snaith, one of our writing coaches at The Novelry, says:

For me, a good epilogue comes after a tense ending and is an opportunity for the reader to release a sigh. It doesn’t have to explain everything, but it may give us a note of hope after a dramatic or emotional ending where things are left in the air.
—Mahsuda Snaith

To twist or not to twist

Epilogues don’t need to be a fulsome family round-up. In fact, they can be quite the reverse—and they don’t have to reveal a final twist, either. Writing coach Emylia Hall loves a good epilogue:

If the writer has convinced me they’re excellent company, then I have no preconceptions about what I want an epilogue to be (final twist? Evocation of life for our characters a little further down the line? A poetic final flourish?) beyond it enhancing my overall experience of the read.
—Emylia Hall

Epilogues come in all shapes and sizes in literature, from Katniss’s bittersweet reflection at the end of the Hunger Games series to Margaret Atwood’s contextual epilogue at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale. Both distance us from previous events and shine further light on the protagonists’ futures post-trauma.

Shakespeare reflected on tragedy in many of his plays, not least in Romeo and Juliet, where the Prince’s concluding speech declares:

For never was a story of more woe; Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
—William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

If you decide to include an epilogue in your novel, be honest about its purpose. Make sure that, like all the other elements, it serves your story and your reader. It could be the crowning glory that stays with them long after they close the final page.

Write your novel with coaching from Amanda Reynolds

If you’re writing crime, suspense, or a psychological thriller and you’d benefit from some knowledgeable authorial guidance, you’ll find Amanda a wise and insightful writing coach.

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