Important PSA to authors

amother

↑ Seagreen

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 5:46 pm

amother Azalea wrote:

Booktok is mostly for romance novels, that's why the focus is on the HEA. I've seen a lot of discourse about it within writing spheres, and I do agree that most romances should end with that HEA because that's the expectation of the genre.

But a book where every single character is perfectly happy and all issues are totally resolved? I would strongly maintain that books like that are really geared toward children. This is where satisfying endings come in.

You don't believe that the woman who grew up with an abusive mother has worked things out with her, they're both happy now, and there's no trauma. Conversely, you don't believe that she's completely wiped the mother from her memory, completely despises her, and barely thinks about her at all. A satisfying ending is one where the woman comes to terms with her trauma, and maybe takes some healthy steps toward recovery. If everything is perfectly happy with no leftover conflict, the reader is more likely to be dissatisfied than if we get a bittersweet ending or a tentative beginning sort of ending.

It doesn't need to be happy, but it needs to end

amother

Lemonchiffon ↓

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 6:39 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

It's great when a book leaves you feeling good and things are resolved. But please, no "5 years later epilogue" type thing.

why not? especially if someone is dealing with trauma... it's not realistic for it all to be taken care of right away...

amother

↑ Azalea

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 6:48 pm

amother Raspberry wrote:

It doesn't have to be a happy ending, it just needs to be satisfying. Which means giving some resolution to any significant issue in the book.

There should be a warning label on those book, "inconclusive conclusion" and then only people who like those books will pick them up Smile

(Are there really people who like those?)

I actually don't think that these happen intentionally, in almost every case– it's a skill issue on the part of the writer.

amother

↑ Lemonchiffon

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 6:55 pm

my husband was just saying that he thinks jewish books do this because they are used to writing serials where each time they need you to want more but he doesn't actually read jewish books or magazines or anything so I basically told him not to comment on something he's not so familiar with but I guess he was right Wink

↑ PinkFridge

Wed, Aug 21 2024, 7:51 pm

amother Lemonchiffon wrote:

why not? especially if someone is dealing with trauma... it's not realistic for it all to be taken care of right away...

They can be very trite, and not a satisfying read.