What's your view on epilogues? I'm a little torn about them. On one hand it fels like an easy-out to wrap up loose ends you should have dealt with in the story and on the other hand I'm thinking of using it to wrap up loose ends.
If they work for your book, do it. I'm in the middle of a series of books that uses epilogues in each one because it's designed to work that way. They can be done well or badly. Just do them well.
I'd advise you to think of a better reason why you use them In my view, loose ends should be dealt with in your story. Period. In my view, an epilogue has one reason to exist, and one reason only: It should give me a sense of conclusion. Maybe the struggles of your characters were mighty? At the end they were successful, but exhausted? Just arrived at the promised land, snatching victory from defeat, can't believe their luck to have found each other yet? Love hasn't had time to settle and become deep fondness? I, the reader, want to see that too. I'm not ready to part ways with your characters yet. Your epilogue can show me the afterglow. Yes, and if you happen to have a sequel, now's the time to show me that their troubles aren't over, too.
I like them, and they're not at all uncommon in my genre. All 3 of my books have them, so I'm obviously a fan.
I like them too, when done right. And when I mean "done right" i mean not like how im doing it, haha! I think epilogues are supposed to be short and give a sneak peak as to what could possibly happen next (like in series). Or in stand alones, a leap forward to after the events of the book. Me? My epilogue is super long and I hate it and I am considering cutting it entirely (although, because its a series, i feel like i SHOULD have a little epilogue...)
If you're using an epilogue to "wrap up loose ends you should have dealt with in the story" then maybe it's not the appropriate time for using an epilogue. If you're unsure, write the epilogue. Then see what of its contents can be dealt with within/earlier in the story. Like Laurin Kelly above, I have used epilogues, so obviously I think there is value in including them.
Fame, money, or possibly groupies, whatever. I think the highest achievable goal would indeed be the reader not wanting to part with the characters. I'm currently banging away on the keyboard to see if I can inflate my epilogue into a part 3, so there's "long" and there's "overestimating yourself". ;o) The main storyline is concluded, but I imagine readers will be wondering about one or two semi-concluded side-arcs. As it sits now, the MC has asked some people to make sure the matters get fixed, and it could maybe-probably be left at that, though I suppose people might want to read how exactly it got fixed.
Epilogues like prologues are a time and place thing... sometimes the time is right, sometimes its right but it ought to just be the last chapter and sometimes its wrong. The trilogy i'm currently writing was originally one book with a scene setting prologue and a where are they now epilogue... after some rethinking the prologue became book 1, and the epilogue became book 3... although book 3 will still have an epilogue (unless that becomes book 4)
Like prologues, I'll add an epilogue if I feel it's needed. Book 2 of my Draconia series ended with a sort-of cliffhanger. A natural pause in the action, but a lot of loose threads. So, I added a short epilogue in which one of the main characters teased what was to come, written as if he was recalling in log entry sometime later. My current project will have one. The story ends with a battle in which the main character and his crew all die, so without an epilogue, the story would just end. The epilogue has the main character's son reflect on his father's sacrifice, which completes the character's story arc.
I have (had) the same problem. The epilogue for my fantasy story was going to encompass the actual final battle, such as the MC coming back to life and defeating the evil-one, which, after reading the above, would be waaaay toooo loooong! So, it shall be just a few pages to tidy up the ending, get the MCs together and then send them on their way. Thanks!
Turns out, because I was, for lack of a better word, afraid to start editing and cutting I started panic writing and what was supposed to be a little epilogue is now bloating into the next one in the series. Which I'll have to edit at some point. Expect parts 4 to 20 in a bookstore near you.
I like prologues and epilogues, but whether or not I use them or whether or not they work in someone else's story all boils down to the story itself. For example, my current story was originally going to have a prologue, but it didn't bring anything to the overall story besides foreshadowing an event at the final climax, so I cut it out. But my story does need an epilogue (at least, I think it does!). The final chapter is going to wrap up the plot, and the protagonists will begin to move on with their new lives. But the epilogue will be a time jump of a few years to show where those characters ended up, showing how the country has been recovering after all the shit that occurred. It's not something that can easily be cleaned up in a chapter, but an epilogue will do nicely. It'll also show how the main protagonist still hasn't recovered from everything even after the time jump, even after the world heals and she's surrounded by people who love her, and that is something I insist on letting the reader know. Anyway, I personally feel that a final chapter and an epilogue have entirely different purposes, and sometimes an epilogue might not be needed at all but instead be separate chapters. It just depends on the context.
