Epigraph template in Markdown: a framing line before prose

An epigraph is a short framing line placed before a piece's first paragraph. This Markdown epigraph template pairs the line with a brief credit below the title. The prose begins farther down the page. The example uses only invented wording by the fictional Jane Doe.

A framing thought before the piece

The epigraph gives the opening a thought to sit beside. It doesn't recount the scene or explain the author's reasons for writing. Here, a sentence about a room's edges precedes a paragraph about entering an empty room. The two passages share an image while doing different work.

If .md is unfamiliar, begin with about a .md file. Keep the epigraph inside the piece's file, above its first paragraph, so the line stays beside that opening during revision.

The epigraph template

Begin a .md file with the example below. Substitute your piece's title for the bracketed title placeholder. Everything below the title placeholder was invented here, including Jane Doe; only her name appears in the credit. The example text states no dates. Any dates you add within the example text belong only as placeholders such as [DATE].

# [Title of your piece]

> An empty room begins at its edges.

Jane Doe

I paused at the doorway of the empty room. A narrow band of sunlight touched the wall, stopping just before the corner. I walked toward it and stood where the light ended.

Replace the framing sentence, credit, and opening paragraph together when reusing this example. Choose your own invented line and name Jane Doe in its brief credit. Keep the > before the framing sentence and leave the credit outside the quoted passage.

The title belongs above the epigraph. The first paragraph begins after the credit, without a > at its start. Empty space divides the parts, giving the framing thought a boundary before the scene begins.

Brevity and distance from the scene

Jane Doe's epigraph has seven words. It offers an image of edges without describing the doorway, sunlight, or movement in the paragraph below. Those details belong to the piece's opening prose.

Keep your framing line short enough to hold a single thought. If it grows into a passage that recounts the opening action, shorten it until the paragraph has room to begin on its own. A brief credit needs only the invented name here, without a second explanation of the sentence.

An epigraph doesn't create a second tale around the piece. To enclose an entire tale within another narration, use the fictional frame narrative template. This example instead leaves one sentence apart from the prose and then begins the piece directly.

Keeping the opening together

Name the example file empty-room-epigraph.md to connect its subject with its opening device. The title placeholder, framing line, credit, and paragraph remain together in that file. Consult Markdown file naming when choosing separators and a descriptive filename for your own piece.

Reread the epigraph beside the opening after changing either passage. In this example, the room and its edges join the two; a rewritten paragraph about a different subject would call for a fresh framing line.

Where Sashmark fits

For people holding agent-written .md files, Sashmark is planned to pair a Markdown editor with a desktop reader. This design remains in development.