How does your story end? I was reminded of how JK Rowling said, somewhere, that she wrote the epilogue of the Harry Potter series first, before writing book 1. She knew she wanted Ginny and Harry to end up together, that kind of thing.

So how does your story end? How do your characters continue on in their lives after it’s all over? Knowing this can help you visualize how they get to that point.

So that’s it: Pick a moment in your characters’ lives that demonstrates their post-story future and show us the scene.

You might throw in some callbacks to earlier parts of the story, or, now that you know the ending, having written the epilogue, you might go back and plant some things in the beginning that the ending can call back to.

You don’t have to use the epilogue in the novel if it doesn’t add much. But even if you don’t, it’s not a waste to write it. You can always use it as bonus material on your site or in a newsletter or however.

Have fun.

That’s it for me!

How about you? Do you think much about what happens to your characters after their story is over? Tell us in the comments!

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