More You Know: Writing Intros (For Writers)

Posted on 06/17/2021 by Pisaries Creator

This is more for writers but it’s for everyone who wants to remind themselves they probably need clarification on the differences of what comes before the meat of any story or after. They are also known as a preface, foreword, prologue, introduction in the beginning and epilogue and afterward at the end. Let’s start with the beginning of a book.

The preface is written to tell how the writer came upon the story. It’s basically the nuts and bolts of what the writer did to successfully write the book. It probably isn’t necessary to write about the process of writing a fiction book because we all know it is hard (to an extent) and it takes time (for some) to write a novel, it’s more geared toward non-fiction writers.

The foreword is written by anyone else but the author and usually is done to endorse the book. If anyone knows how to get in touch with Stephen King, let me know. I would love for him to endorse my book. Skip the New York Times Best Seller List. Just get me a respected famous person who reads that gives a good recommendation.

The prologue is written as a precursor to the story and basically sets the tone of the story. This is basically geared toward fiction where it should include a few characters and events that leads and adds to the original story.

Now to move to the end of a book. There is the epilogue and afterword.

The epilogue is written to tie up any unraveled ends in the story. I originally had an epilogue in my love story but took it out. Some may consider it sloppy writing and used as a crutch. I don’t see a problem with it as long as it is right. It’s also a way to reaffirm the ending.

The afterword is similar to a preface where it discusses how the origins of the story and how the process occurred. Again, most of us know the difficulties of writing a book. Maybe, if I include this I will write about the positive aspects of writing. Okay, maybe not. You get the point, I hope.

After writing this, I think the beginning is more important than the end of a book. The last chapter is important as it brings the story to a close, but the beginning is what hooks the reader. If you don’t have a good/great beginning, there is more of a chance the reader will put down the book and pick up another one. On that note, onto more blogging and writing and reading.