Have you ever noticed the small quotations at the beginning of a book or its chapters?

Those are called epigraphs, and they can include a short quotation, saying, poem, or paragraph of prose. Including an epigraph before some or all chapters in a book isn't a necessary ingredient for baking up a brilliant story, but they can be useful for several reasons.

What do those reasons include, and should you include an epigraph (or maybe several of them) in your book? Let's dive into today's quick and dirty breakdown!