Epigraphs

[Paul Whybrow]

An epigraph is a quotation, phrase or poem placed at the beginning of a book. They can also be used at the start of new sections or even chapters.

I like them, as they indicate the intent of an author in creating a story, offering a hint of the mindset they had and acting as a mood setter for what's about to come.

It's tough to resist the temptation of a bite-sized quote set in speech marks—the fridge magnet industry thrives on them! I've collected pithy words of wisdom for the last 30 years and have several folders, that would make a thought-provoking collection in book form if I ever had the patience to collate them.

I've used an epigraph at the start of all of my books. My WIP, Who Kills A Nudist? has a theme of how fragile we are physically and spiritually, and how that is taken advantage of by manipulative men. I chose a quote by Jeremy Taylor, a 17th-century English clergyman, who wrote a devotional manual called Holy Living and Holy Dying, in which he observed:

Man is a bubble, and all the world is a storm.

The first novel I wrote The Perfect Murderer featured a serial killer, whose bloody activities were used by a member of the establishment to cloak his own return to murder. He'd killed a dangerous criminal a year for 40 years, without being suspected. I chose a poem by Leonard Cohen as the epigraph:

The Reason I Write

The reason I write
is to make something
as beautiful as you are

When I'm with you
I want to be the kind of hero
I wanted to be
when I was seven years old
a perfect man

who kills

Have any other members of the Colony used epigraphs in their books?

 

[Nicole Wilson]

No, because, personally, I skip them almost every time they're in a book I'm reading. I want to get to the story faster, not read something that might hint at what's coming.

EDIT: I should clarify. I thought you were talking about at all of the chapters. *Those* I don't read. Ones at the beginning of books I do and am considering doing one for my next book.

 

[Patricia D]

I have - the moving hand quote from The Rubaiyat on book three of the trilogy. It's in the e-book but somehow fell through the cracks on the hard copy.

 

[James Marinero]

Yes, in 'Susan's Brother', a true story about a boy who suffered emotional neglect and overcame it.

“Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.”

– Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux Chief, Sitting Bull.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Yes, in 'Susan's Brother', a true story about a boy who suffered emotional neglect and overcame it.

“Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.”

– Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux Chief, Sitting Bull.

Native American sayings are a rich source for epigraphs. I've saved several, including this one from the Tlingit tribe, which would be ideal for a novel that has a protagonist suffering from depression:

My own mind is very hard to me.
It is just as if I were carrying my mind around.
What is the matter with you?

 

[Richard Sutton]

I added one to my first book to help set a tone... I don;t know if it was a good idea or not, but the book was written in a period voice, so it seemed appropriate.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I have a love-hate relationship with them. When they are used well, in the right book, they're great. When they're not...I'm like Nicole--I don't read them. That said, I've never not bought or read a book because they used epitaphs. They're easy for readers to skip if they don't like them.

 

[Marc Joan]

I have - the moving hand quote from The Rubaiyat on book three of the trilogy. It's in the e-book but somehow fell through the cracks on the hard copy.

I love the Rubaiyat. Once upon a time, if you poked me with a sharp stick I could quote almost the entirety of it.

 

[Marc Joan]

An epigraph is a quotation, phrase or poem placed at the beginning of a book. They can also be used at the start of new sections or even chapters.

I like them, as they indicate the intent of an author in creating a story, offering a hint of the mindset they had and acting as a mood setter for what's about to come.

It's tough to resist the temptation of a bite-sized quote set in speech marks—the fridge magnet industry thrives on them! I've collected pithy words of wisdom for the last 30 years and have several folders, that would make a thought-provoking collection in book form if I ever had the patience to collate them.

I've used an epigraph at the start of all of my books. My WIP, Who Kills A Nudist? has a theme of how fragile we are physically and spiritually, and how that is taken advantage of by manipulative men. I chose a quote by Jeremy Taylor, a 17th-century English clergyman, who wrote a devotional manual called Holy Living and Holy Dying, in which he observed:

Man is a bubble, and all the world is a storm.

The first novel I wrote The Perfect Murderer featured a serial killer, whose bloody activities were used by a member of the establishment to cloak his own return to murder. He'd killed a dangerous criminal a year for 40 years, without being suspected. I chose a poem by Leonard Cohen as the epigraph:

The Reason I Write

The reason I write
is to make something
as beautiful as you are

When I'm with you
I want to be the kind of hero
I wanted to be
when I was seven years old
a perfect man

who kills

Have any other members of the Colony used epigraphs in their books?

Epigraphs are fantastic. I'd use them on each page if I thought I could get away with it.