Learn the definition of epistolary writing, and explore the various epistolary forms in literature. Study examples of epistolary writing in fiction and non-fiction.
Updated: 02/20/2022
Epistolary Writing Forms
What is Epistolary Writing?
Epistolary writing is a form of writing which includes first-hand accounts of an event. The term "epistolary", meaning "written in the form of a series of letters," is derived from the Greek word epistole (message, letter, command), via the English noun epistle. While only letters are mentioned in the definition, epistolary writing may also include other formats, such as diary entries. Epistolary writing can be either fiction or nonfiction. For example, the epistles in the Bible are formal letters written to give instruction, and Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl was the author's account of real events, whereas epistolary novels like Dracula or The Color Purple describe the experiences of fictional characters through the epistolary format.
What Is Epistolary Writing?
Captain's log, stardate 9522.6: I've never trusted Klingons, and I never will... With just a few words, I am transported (or is it beamed?) to the world of the popular TV series and movie franchise 'Star Trek'. While not all of Star Trek is told through journal-like entries like this, its screenwriters often used Captain Kirk's log as a way to convey information and set up their latest intergalactic adventures.
While the word 'epistolary' is an adjective meaning 'of or related to letters', epistolary writing uses forms like letters, diary and journal entries, and other types of documents, to tell a story and deliver a message, from the Bible and C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters', to Bram Stoker's Dracula and Anne Frank's diary.
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Forms of Epistolary Writing
There are several forms of epistolary writing, which can be classified according to the method of writing used (letters, diary entries, etc.) as well as the number of points of view included.
Epistolary Novel
A novel told through a series of letters or diary entries is known as an epistolary novel. Within this definition, there are several categories which describe specifically the ways in which the story is told. A monologic epistolary novel is told by a single character; only their letters or diary entries are shown, without any replies or contributions by other characters. Works written in the form of a diary are typically monologic epistolary novels. On the other hand, a dialogic epistolary novel shows an ongoing conversation between two characters responding to each other's letters. An example of this is Poor Folk, by Fyodor Dostoevsky. A polylogic epistolary novel shows three or more perspectives. One famous example of a polylogic novel is Dracula, by Bram Stoker, which is told through many characters' letters and diaries, as well as other formats such as newspaper articles. While many books include the occasional letter, diary entry, or newspaper article along with a more typical prose narrative, epistolary novels are made up primarily or exclusively of epistolary writing.
Letters as Epistolary Writing
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Letters are one of the most common forms of epistolary writing. In addition to the letters sent between real individuals or groups, many works of fiction incorporate letters and may even be entirely made up of letters. Often, this format is chosen because it is better-suited to the author's purpose than a normal prose story, with the letters themselves being a key part of the plot. For example, in the novel The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis, a demon named Screwtape writes letters to his nephew, Wormwood, giving him advice on how best to tempt humans. This is used as an indirect way for Lewis to advise his readers on avoiding such temptations, so the letters play a key role in both the plot and the author's overall purpose.
The first-person point of view shown in letters and diaries can also influence the mood of the story. For example, in Dracula, Bram Stoker shows the reader glimpses of the title character through the viewpoints of characters who know very little about him. Their descriptions are all the more unsettling because, for a large part of the novel, they do not understand what he is. Early on in the novel, main character Jonathan Harker writes: "As the Count leaned over me and his hands touched me... a horrible feeling of nausea came over me, which, do what I would, I could not conceal." The use of the epistolary format helps with creating a dark mood having the characters describe their emotions and fears to the reader via their letters to each other or in the space of their private diaries.
Diaries in Epistolary Writing
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Diaries are another popular form of epistolary writing. Authors may choose to have their characters write in diary format in order to provide a close first-person perspective on the events, allowing the reader to see what happens through the character's eyes. The writer of the diary typically shares not only the events but their opinions and emotions with the reader. A few well-known examples of epistolary novels told through diaries include Bridget Jones' Diary, by Helen Fielding, and The Color Purple, by Alice Walker. While it is nonfiction rather than a novel, Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl is also an excellent example of a diary which has been published as a book.
Epistolary Writing Examples
Examples of epistolary writing include:
- The epistles in the Bible
- The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank
- Dracula, by Bram Stoker
- The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis
- The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
- Lady Susan, by Jane Austen
- Bridget Jones' Diary, by Helen Fielding
- Poor Folk, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
- World War Z: an Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Lesson Summary
Epistolary Writing is a form of writing which has a long history and is still frequently used today. This format includes first-person accounts of real or fictional events such as letters and diaries. Nonfiction epistolary writing may describe the events experienced by real people, as in Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl, or may be written for the purpose of giving advice and instruction, such as the epistles in the Bible. In fiction, the epistolary format is often used to allow the reader to identify closely with one or more characters. This can have an impact on the plot, as well as contributing to the novel's overall mood. For example, in Bram Stoker's Dracula, the characters' confusion and fear when describing Dracula without knowing who or what he really is contributes to the overall dark mood of the novel.
Epistolary novels may be monologic (one perspective, e.g. one character's letters or diary), dialogic (two perspectives, e.g. two characters writing letters to each other), or polylogic (many characters' perspectives in a variety of formats). In addition to letters and diary entries, polylogic epistolary novels may also include other types of documentation such as newspaper articles.
Letters
Letters have been a form of writing since the beginning, but leave it to the Ancient Greeks to step it up a notch by writing epistles, or formal letters, to groups of people at once, telling them how to behave and how to live their lives. Historically, the most famous epistles are from the New Testament, mostly written by Saint Paul and other early Church leaders to groups like the Romans or the Corinthians.
In 1942, C. S. Lewis (of The Chronicles of Narnia fame) published his novel, The Screwtape Letters. Lewis's book takes the form of a series of 31 fictional (that means made-up) letters from a demon bureaucrat named Screwtape to his lower-ranking nephew Wormwood, another government worker in Hell. Screwtape's letters advise his nephew on how to tempt the humans he is charged with leading astray - which is all just an elaborate way for Lewis to instruct his readers on how to avoid sin and live good, Christian lives.
Not all epistolary works are so concerned with telling us how to lead good, clean lives. Two other well-known novels that use a letter format are Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky's Poor Folk (1846) and American Alice Walker's 1982 novel, The Color Purple. For each novel using the letter format, point-of-view, or the scope of the narrative voice telling the story, is limited to the characters writing the letters.
For example, The Color Purple is an epistolary novel told through letters written by a poor black teenage girl, Celie, to both God and her sister, so we only hear about Celie's difficult life through her own words and her direct experiences. Author Alice Walker's choice to tell us the story using Celie's voice gives Celie a kind of power she doesn't have in her everyday life.
Diaries
Written from June 1942 to August 1944 by a teenage Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl documents her thoughts and feelings, some important and others seemingly trivial. A month after she receives the diary as a gift, Anne and her family and family friends are forced into hiding in an office building in Amsterdam to escape religious persecution from the Nazis.
At the beginning of her diary, Anne writes: I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.
Knowing how Anne's story ends before starting to read Diary of a Young Girl adds another layer to these words from her first entry. The Secret Annex was discovered in August 1944 by the Nazis, and Anne and all but one of the eight people hiding with her die in concentration camps within a year. The sole survivor, Anne's father Otto Frank, returns to Amsterdam and her diary is published in 1947.
Because of its publication, the 'you' Anne mentions in her first entry is now the entire world, as we are all taken into her confidence. The diary format gives the reader an intimate look into Anne's thoughts and feelings during a very difficult time, but it is also remarkable, because its historical context stands side-by-side with the seemingly commonplace hopes and dreams of a 13-year-old girl that we know were never realized.
Non-fiction diaries are usually edited down, as Anne's was, but fiction writers use the diary format to give us a close glimpse on a specific character and build a closeness between the main character and the reader. Bridget Jones's Diary, a popular novel from 1996 by Helen Fielding, uses diary entries to show Bridget Jones's sense of humor and candor, including daily records of how much chocolate she's had to eat that day.
Other Epistolary Forms
Sometimes fiction writers put together a few different epistolary forms to tell their stories. Bram Stoker decided to tell the story of Dracula (1897) using a mix of diary entries, letters, newspaper clippings and other accounts.
Getting only glimpses of the vampire Dracula's strange behavior through firsthand reports makes the danger he presents that much more unsettling and scary. For example, in chapter two, a young British lawyer named Jonathan Harker recounts in a letter an early experience with the Count from Transylvania, whom he is helping with a real estate sale:
As the Count leaned over me and his hands touched me...a horrible feeling of nausea came over me, which, do what I would, I could not conceal. Think about how point-of-view influences the dark mood of even this short quote, and how, if presented in a more all-knowing voice, we wouldn't share in Harker's confusion and fear when encountering this strange man.
Similarly, the novel World War Z by Max Brooks is written as a series of interviews with individuals from across the globe who survived what is referred to as the 'Zombie War'. As with Dracula, Brooks' use of an oral history-like structure to tell his story grounds the novel more in reality than traditional horror stories, and is said to have given new life to the zombie apocalypse genre.
Lesson Summary
Originally, epistolary writing referred to non-fiction (true) writing that used a letter format. Over time, the epistolary format has grown to include both fiction (made-up) and non-fiction, and other written accounts, from diary and log entries to newspaper clippings and interviews. Sometimes these forms are combined by fiction writers, making point-of-view an important part of the story they want to tell.
Learning Outcomes
Viewing this video lesson will guide students' success in the following:
- Defining epistolary writing and naming titles of examples
- Listing the forms of writing that fall under this heading
- Explaining the advantages offered to writers using these formats
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Video Transcript
What Is Epistolary Writing?
Captain's log, stardate 9522.6: I've never trusted Klingons, and I never will... With just a few words, I am transported (or is it beamed?) to the world of the popular TV series and movie franchise 'Star Trek'. While not all of Star Trek is told through journal-like entries like this, its screenwriters often used Captain Kirk's log as a way to convey information and set up their latest intergalactic adventures.
While the word 'epistolary' is an adjective meaning 'of or related to letters', epistolary writing uses forms like letters, diary and journal entries, and other types of documents, to tell a story and deliver a message, from the Bible and C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters', to Bram Stoker's Dracula and Anne Frank's diary.
Letters
Letters have been a form of writing since the beginning, but leave it to the Ancient Greeks to step it up a notch by writing epistles, or formal letters, to groups of people at once, telling them how to behave and how to live their lives. Historically, the most famous epistles are from the New Testament, mostly written by Saint Paul and other early Church leaders to groups like the Romans or the Corinthians.
In 1942, C. S. Lewis (of The Chronicles of Narnia fame) published his novel, The Screwtape Letters. Lewis's book takes the form of a series of 31 fictional (that means made-up) letters from a demon bureaucrat named Screwtape to his lower-ranking nephew Wormwood, another government worker in Hell. Screwtape's letters advise his nephew on how to tempt the humans he is charged with leading astray - which is all just an elaborate way for Lewis to instruct his readers on how to avoid sin and live good, Christian lives.
Not all epistolary works are so concerned with telling us how to lead good, clean lives. Two other well-known novels that use a letter format are Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky's Poor Folk (1846) and American Alice Walker's 1982 novel, The Color Purple. For each novel using the letter format, point-of-view, or the scope of the narrative voice telling the story, is limited to the characters writing the letters.
For example, The Color Purple is an epistolary novel told through letters written by a poor black teenage girl, Celie, to both God and her sister, so we only hear about Celie's difficult life through her own words and her direct experiences. Author Alice Walker's choice to tell us the story using Celie's voice gives Celie a kind of power she doesn't have in her everyday life.
Diaries
Written from June 1942 to August 1944 by a teenage Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl documents her thoughts and feelings, some important and others seemingly trivial. A month after she receives the diary as a gift, Anne and her family and family friends are forced into hiding in an office building in Amsterdam to escape religious persecution from the Nazis.
At the beginning of her diary, Anne writes: I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.
Knowing how Anne's story ends before starting to read Diary of a Young Girl adds another layer to these words from her first entry. The Secret Annex was discovered in August 1944 by the Nazis, and Anne and all but one of the eight people hiding with her die in concentration camps within a year. The sole survivor, Anne's father Otto Frank, returns to Amsterdam and her diary is published in 1947.
Because of its publication, the 'you' Anne mentions in her first entry is now the entire world, as we are all taken into her confidence. The diary format gives the reader an intimate look into Anne's thoughts and feelings during a very difficult time, but it is also remarkable, because its historical context stands side-by-side with the seemingly commonplace hopes and dreams of a 13-year-old girl that we know were never realized.
Non-fiction diaries are usually edited down, as Anne's was, but fiction writers use the diary format to give us a close glimpse on a specific character and build a closeness between the main character and the reader. Bridget Jones's Diary, a popular novel from 1996 by Helen Fielding, uses diary entries to show Bridget Jones's sense of humor and candor, including daily records of how much chocolate she's had to eat that day.
Other Epistolary Forms
Sometimes fiction writers put together a few different epistolary forms to tell their stories. Bram Stoker decided to tell the story of Dracula (1897) using a mix of diary entries, letters, newspaper clippings and other accounts.
Getting only glimpses of the vampire Dracula's strange behavior through firsthand reports makes the danger he presents that much more unsettling and scary. For example, in chapter two, a young British lawyer named Jonathan Harker recounts in a letter an early experience with the Count from Transylvania, whom he is helping with a real estate sale:
As the Count leaned over me and his hands touched me...a horrible feeling of nausea came over me, which, do what I would, I could not conceal. Think about how point-of-view influences the dark mood of even this short quote, and how, if presented in a more all-knowing voice, we wouldn't share in Harker's confusion and fear when encountering this strange man.
Similarly, the novel World War Z by Max Brooks is written as a series of interviews with individuals from across the globe who survived what is referred to as the 'Zombie War'. As with Dracula, Brooks' use of an oral history-like structure to tell his story grounds the novel more in reality than traditional horror stories, and is said to have given new life to the zombie apocalypse genre.
Lesson Summary
Originally, epistolary writing referred to non-fiction (true) writing that used a letter format. Over time, the epistolary format has grown to include both fiction (made-up) and non-fiction, and other written accounts, from diary and log entries to newspaper clippings and interviews. Sometimes these forms are combined by fiction writers, making point-of-view an important part of the story they want to tell.
Learning Outcomes
Viewing this video lesson will guide students' success in the following:
- Defining epistolary writing and naming titles of examples
- Listing the forms of writing that fall under this heading
- Explaining the advantages offered to writers using these formats
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the meaning of epistolary?
Epistolary writing is a form of writing in which the story is told through letters or other related formats such as a character's diary.
How do you write an epistolary text?
To write an epistolary text, you can choose which format you are interested in using (such as letters or a diary) and write down your thoughts and experiences or those of a fictional character from their first-person perspective. It may be helpful to look at examples of the epistolary format such as Anne Frank's diary or epistolary novels such as Dracula.
Is the diary of Anne Frank epistolary?
The diary of Anne Frank is written in an epistolary format. However, it is not an epistolary novel, since it is a nonfiction work.
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