What is an afterword? What is an epilog? Authors need to know!
Good morning, friends and fans! Today I’ll take a stick and poke at that question until it gives up a little clarity on the subject!
According to Wikipedia, that treasure-house of information (some of it actually useful):
“An afterword is a literary device that is often found at the end of a piece of literature. It generally covers the story of how the book came into being, or of how the idea for the book was developed.” – Wikipedia.
“An epilogue or epilog is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the work. It is presented from the perspective of within the story. When the author steps in and speaks directly to the reader, that is more properly considered an afterword.” – Wikipedia
According to Masterclass.com, “Although the terms afterword and epilogue are often used interchangeably, they’re not synonyms—but they’re not quite antonyms, either. There are noticeable differences between the two, which focus on who is doing the writing, the information they provide, and the perspective taken.” “Despite the differences between the words afterword and epilogue, people do continue to mix them up, and some American English and British English dictionary definitions (as well as other language reference materials) cite afterword as a synonym of epilogue, which adds to the confusion.”
Masterclass went on to provide a detailed explanation on the subject, including disambiguation between an afterword and an epilog. The idea is not to repost their entire article here, but to give a concise and clear summary:
An afterword explains how the book was created and may contain interesting or complex backstories to tell that story, discussing the inspirations behind, or challenges involved in, the book’s development, adding depth to the overall story. The afterword comments on the book’s content, and may provide historical context or to commemorate a book remaining in print for multiple decades or even generations. It shares an alternative perspective, for example, if written by someone other than the author of the book, it can provide a rebuttal, back up facts, serve as a follow-up, or just share an alternative point of view related to the book’s main material.
If you enjoyed this article, why not read “A Guide To Self-Publishing In South Africa” by the same author?
Afterword & Epilogue: What’s the Difference? – A Definitive Disambiguation:
There appears to be three main differences between these two types of additions that go at the back of the book:
- Perspective,
- Fiction or non-fiction,
- Content.
In terms of perspective, an epilogue is written from the perspective of either the main character or the narrator, in the same way as the rest of the book was written. An afterword is written by the author of the book, or by another author, notary, expert or commentator.
More decisively, epilogs appear in books of fiction, whereas an afterword may appear in both fiction and non-fiction books. An epilog is written by the author of the book, whereas an afterword can be written by either the author or another writer or commentator.
In terms of content, an epilog is part of the story, written in the same way and from the same perspective as the rest of the story, and can be used to provide a more satisfying conclusion after the final chapter. An afterword is about the story.
I hope this clears that up!
Read more:
- A Brief Introduction To Self-Publishing: A 5 part series of articles introducing the reader to the concept of self-publishing.
- Forewords, Prologues, Prefaces & Introductions Explained: this explains the differences and similarities and when it is appropriate to use them and for what.
- The Interrobang – What Is It?!:What is the interrobang, where and when should it be used? Should it be used at all?
- Asterism Or Dinkus – What’s In A Name?: Do you still write in actual chapters? For god’s sake – why?
- Afterwords & Epilogs Explained: this explains what afterwords and epilogs are for and when it is appropriate to use them.
- Word Length – When Is A Novel, A Novel?: This explains the word lengths for different categories of book or story.
- Which Self-Publishing Platform – Or All Of Them?:An article about experimenting with which self-publishing distribution platforms to use concurrently. Also read the follow-up article: More Isn’t Always Better – My Self-publishing Platform Strategy Revisited.
- A Guide To Self-Publishing In South Africa – a guide to being an indie author in spite of being stuck in South Africa by Christina Engela.
- Some Great Resources For Writers: A collection of useful tools and articles giving advice to new writers trying to make their way in a minefield of obstacles.
