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I'm writing a long non-fiction text that describes a fictional setting.

I came up with a fiction piece for that setting, to include as further illustration.

I decided it would work best if I split it up three ways.

One part to go in the beginning (as prologue); One part to go in the middle; And one part to go in the end (as epilogue.)

But, what should I call the part that goes in the middle?

I'm writing it all in spanish (my native language), but so far I've been unable to find a proper or even vaguely accurate term, regardless of language.

Any help in either english or spanish would be muchly appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance!

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  • Maybe a, uh, book? – CHEESE Mar 29 '16 at 17:37
  • I was looking for actually helpful answers, not sarcasm. It also seems you didn't read the entire explanation. Laziness is not a virtue, just so you know. – Randall Stevens Mar 31 '16 at 11:56
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The part of a book that comes between the prologue and the epilogue is normally called "the story"!

Ok, I take it you mean you have some explanatory material that you want to put in the middle, that is not part of the story itself?

Perhaps "interlude" is what you are looking for.

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  • More sarcasm, but followed by an actually helpful reply! So thanks :) It's the other way around. Most of the text is "out of character" descriptions of the fictional setting, and the "prologue/interlude/epilogue" thing is setting-based fiction. But you got the idea, and your suggestion sounds good! "Interlude" seems to be the right term. I'll keep looking, but I might stick with that. Thanks again! – Randall Stevens Mar 31 '16 at 11:59
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http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2009/09/parts-of-a-book/

I'm not familiar with this page, but it seems accurate from what I remember of my technical studies in that regard. You've got frontmatter, main body, and backmatter. Prologue is frontmatter, epilogue is part of the main body, as are all the other chapters of your story.

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  • As far as I understand it, OP isn't writing a story; he's interleaving multi-part fiction into a non-fiction work. He's got one chapter that's DIFFERENT, fiction rather than nonfiction, and he's looking for a term for that. IMHO this doesn't answer the question. – Standback Mar 29 '16 at 9:44
  • Perhaps not. I think the problem may even be that he's not using Prologue and Epilogue appropriately. They are not so simple as "the first part" and "the last part," they have specific roles and are often misused. If there is not a "main body" to the work, then they have no place, because they are not the main work in and of themselves. "Interlude", as suggested by another user, would be appropriate within a main body of work, though, in which case a designated Prologue and Epilogue are likely unnecessary. – Susan Malone Semadeni Mar 29 '16 at 13:21
  • Randall Stevens? He's playing a gag. The reference is from The Shawshank Redemption. – Stu W Mar 29 '16 at 13:49
  • Wait. Are you pasting replies from another site? I went there and couldn't find those, to reply to them properly. Standback got it right. Your reply there Susan, I believe, is incorrect. The non-fiction description of the fictional setting would be the "main body." And the fiction piece illustrates the setting further. So, it doesn't seem misused to me. I've seen the "Prologue/Epilogue" technique used in very similar literature. That's what made me believe it would be valid, too. So, "Interlude" seems to still hold. And yes about my nick. It's not a joke though, I just love the movie heh. – Randall Stevens Mar 31 '16 at 12:29

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