Carrie - Lesson 13 (Epilogue)

The Epilogue in Carrie: In "The Body" in Different Seasons, after Gordon Lachance finishes the story of Lard Ass Hogan to the gang around the fire, Teddy says, "Yeah, that's cool, then what happened?" When Gordie tells him he doesn't know, Teddy gets angry. I think of this passage every time I read one of King's stories that doesn't end until well after climax.

Carrie doesn't actually have an "Epilogue" but "Part Three: Wreckage." However, since it is only 8 pages long, for our purposes it's an Epilogue. It serves to answer the question, "Then what happened?" We see via Carrie's death certificate, an AP wire, a lengthy human interest story in the Lewiston Daily Sun and other correspondence.

I have mixed feelings about epilogues (and prologues), part of me wants a tidy economic story that doesn't need a lot of set up and wind down. On the other hand, like Teddy, I want to see what happens next. My advice would be to go ahead and write it, and cut it later. See Kill Your Darlings.

Exercise: Take a look at the Epilogue (or last chapter) of your story. Is it necessary for Story or is it simply there to answer the question, "What happens next?"