Should They Or Shouldn't They? Coming Up With The Best Ending For Your Story

One of the key components of any good novel is to leave your readers guessing so that they keep turning the page. Even if your story is simply about characters going from A to B, unless you throw in twists and turns that threaten that journey, or change their course, your reader will be, in a word, bored.

In fact, some of the best writing comes when you leave the reader surprised - as in they never saw that coming. Recently I read Hilary Weisman Graham's fantastic YA novel REUNITED, and it really got me thinking about great writing and how to surprise the reader by hitting them with something they never expected. Without providing an unwanted spoiler, I will say that while aspects of the book run the course I expected they would from the beginning, there were other aspects that didn't at all, and that's what made me love it so much. But doubling back to the first part, where the outcomes of certain aspects were predictable from page 1: that's not always a bad thing. In fact, if that HADN'T been the outcome, it would have been highly unsatisfying. With some stories, if you tweak the outcome you've been building towards, it can change the whole story entirely, and not always in a good way.

I am facing a similar dilemma in the new novel I am writing, TWO JACKS AND A JILL, which is a contemporary road trip novel. There is a love triangle of sorts, and I have to decide which boy the reader would be rooting for her to end up with more. I even posed it as a question to my writer friends on Facebook to ask them if an ending would be unsatisfying or a nice twist if the girl didn't end up with the guy they thought she would all along? Immediately, the responses started flowing back, all equally insightful and brilliant. There should be a damn good reason, not bad timing or something. It's not a romantic comedy if they don't get together, it's just a comedy. And ultimately, that it's the HOW they get together that holds the twist, the coming together despite the odds and great differences.

Then I received a private message from an author friend who said the real words I'd been needing to hear. That she worried I was getting too caught up in the mechanics of the story instead of the story itself. She advised, so wisely I might add, that I take a step back and think about if I'm telling the story I want to tell or I think I should be telling. That I shouldn't worry about making it unique or surprising as much as making it MINE and that it would BE those other things.

She was right. Once again, I was reminded that there are stories in me that I want to tell the way I want to tell them. And much like Katy Perry talks about in her recent concert movie, I'm not interested in being the next anybody, I want to be the first Robin Reul. I'm not looking to follow someone else's rules or wish list, I want to write this story as I would want to read it. So when a friend asked me, "What do YOU want to happen? Do YOU want them to get together?" the answer was simple and came without hesitation. And I was no longer scared that I was making the wrong choice. Because if it satisfied me, then it would likely satisfy other readers as well.

What are your thoughts on the should they/shouldn't they dilemma? Do you vote for a satisfying ending that the reader has been building towards or want to opt to surprise them with a whole new direction, one that might end up being empowering for one character but perhaps leave the other disappointed but oh-so-much-wiser?

Finding the Funny

My post today is more of a musing than a real writing post. I've just become increasingly aware from the headlines on Yahoo and the postings of friends on Facebook how it seems as a collective whole we are all going a little crazy. It seems like people are dealing with tragedies and stress in unbelievable numbers - untimely passings of family and friends, home foreclosures, jobs lost, lives being forced to shift and change in unplanned ways. This feeling of personal and literal dystopia seems echoed in the movie and book offerings of the time in record numbers, which on some level offers a bizarre comfort that we are not alone in our personal day-to-day struggles. But wouldn't that mean, more than ever, there is a demand for things that make us feel good, that take us away from our problems and give us hope?

We, as writers, make choices in what we present to our readers. I, personally, feel a sense of responsibility, to remain committed to bringing the light rather than furthering the darkness. After 9/11, I could no longer stomach thrillers and horror movies and stories that didn't offer promise of a better day or the discovery of a safe place. When I choose to disengage from the world, I want to laugh and be entertained, and to forget for the moment what is rattling around in my brain. I remain committed to creating those kinds of stories for an audience that both wants and needs them, regardless of their popularity or current trends.

I started writing a book last year that I got 140 pages deep in to. It was a dark, dramatic story dealing with themes of teen suicide, hopelessness and the main character's journey of self-discovery. While this type of story has a strong foothold in the current market, every time I sat down to write it I would just get . . . depressed. I couldn't exist in the hearts and minds of these characters for very long without needing to take a break from them and find the funny again. It's not to say I won't ultimately return to this story and complete it. I will. But I knew it was not what I needed to write and where I wanted to be the second I sat down and started writing my current novel, which is a light, humorous, romantic road trip novel. It literally did something to the endorphins within me, to laugh and to feel the excitement of a blossoming romance. There is still a story of self-discovery here, but it's a more upbeat one, and that's the haven I want to offer my readers as well.

Don't get me wrong - I admire the incredible imaginations of some of today's authors and the amazing stories they tell, but at the end of the day, I know who I am and what I'm good at and what I want to write. There is plenty of time to experiment later, down the road. When my readers think of me, I want them to conjure up images of stories that make them laugh out loud and give them butterflies in their stomach and capture the essence of what it feels like to be sixteen.

Do you feel committed to anything in particular as you write? Are there certain kinds of stories you feel you are driven to tell? Is there a certain feeling you get when you are writing that lets you know this is "your" story? And if you tend to write darker stories, what makes you feel connected to these stories more than others? Are these also the same types of stories you like to read to escape and entertain?