What is an Epistolary Story?
Here is an example of am epistolary story.
“1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. Ephesians 1:1-2
The Bible
What is an Epistolary Story?
You may be wondering about different types of stories. Here is one – epistolary story.
Doesn’t a letter from St. Paul to the apostles, or a letter from St. Paul to the Ephesians ring a bell?
You might hear the epistle of Thomas, or the epistle of Paul. This explanation is to denote that the word epistolary is the adjectival form of an epistle, a noun – which is synonymous with “letter”.
In a literary sense, it denotes a work of fiction or nonfiction that is written as a letter and addressed to the reader. This genre was very popular in the 16th century AD and was relevant towards the end of the 17th century. Writers of the time included letters in their works to make them genuine and attract the near-to-life literature effect in creative writing.
There are, however, a few types of epistolary letters to be recognized. They are categorised according to the point of view the story has. Most epistolary novels possess the first person
narrative (point of view), as it often carries the sight of only the narrator or the writer who addresses it.
The other forms or types of the epistolary novel include: Monologic, Dialogue, and Polylogic.
Forms of Epistolary Story
The Monologic
– Just as the name implies, mono means one – therefore, the monologic type depicts the narration of a single character. They address their letter and everything written in
their part of the story without showing the reaction or reply of the recipient. A good example is the letters sent to thirty-three places in the bible by St. Paul. His letters addressed every church, individual, or municipality he sent them to, and they narrated his views only, giving no room to the recipients for replies or reactions.
The dialogic
– Dialogues usually involve two parties only. This shows that in this type of story, two persons take action – one writes, and the other replies. Unlike the monologic type, it allows
the opinion of the recipient of the letter. It shows his/her feelings towards what was received and makes his opinion relevant to the story. This type of epistle is viewed from two
angles, as it is a form of communication between two people who understand each other. The letter might show forms of disagreement or conflict between the two parties, but their opinions are expressed therein.
A popular example of this type of story is Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Poor Folk.
The Polylogic
– Poly denotes many. It means that there are many participants in this type of epistolary novel. This can also refer to a story that has many stories written differently by
different authors. A very good example is Dracula, written by Bram Stoker. Polylogic epistolary novels allow different reactions and ideologies.
The epistolary novel, just like the modern-day stories, has its format. It is indeed just like a letter, yet we wouldn’t be looking to see the address and the like.
Here are a few tips for writing an epistolary novel:
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Tips for Writing Epistolary Novel
● Read other Epistolary writers – There are many writers of the old who threaded this path; their works are either cataloged or archived. Your job is to research them and find out why epistolary writing is old-fashioned, get their strengths and mistakes and refine them. Make something good out of it.
● Unique Characterization – Characterization as we know it is the art of bringing in actors of the story – In an epistolary novel, each character will have to retain a particular feature from the onset down to the finish line. You have to be creative enough to give each character their voice, physique, and, or other features, which will be peculiar to each. The voice or tone of the first speaker in the epistolary novel isn’t or shouldn’t be the
same as that of the second speaker or the recipient of the message.
● It must be near-to-life – When your work is real, your readers enjoy it as though they’re the main actors in the story. You have to make your work purgative emotions. If it lacks this catharsis, it will be empty or tasteless. Remember, it is a letter-like novel and therefore demands a reply. You must make this creativity real – the convoy between the sender and the receiver.
Conclusion
Creativity is simply the new world prerequisite. You enter the internet today and see them in different forms – some revitalize the events that took place years ago – so are epistolary
novels. Bringing it back to our desk is a great feat; it is also a challenge waiting to be conquered. It will be perfect for writing to take another shape from what we already know it to be.
Conclusion
Creativity is simply the new world prerequisite. You enter the internet today and see them in different forms – some revitalize the events that took place years ago – so are epistolary
novels. Bringing it back to our desk is a great feat, as well as a challenge waiting to be conquered. It will be perfect for writing to take another shape from what we already know it to be.