More About Endings, About Spoilers.
Holy crap and what a fool I've been! And thanks to Irishhatgirl for crystalizing this for me with a great piece of criticism.
People like suspence. They enjoy mystery. And I used to think -- until about two days ago -- that this mystery was the only thing that pulled them all the way to the end of a novel.
"No spoilers!" they cry on the interwebs and that sound rises to a scream just before every episode of A Game of Thrones or Dr. Who comes on the telly.
But then, how do we explain Mills and Boone Romance novels? We know from the first few pages that the feuding couple are going to be in each other's arms by the end of the book, so where is the mystery there?
I thought I knew the answer to that particular puzzle: I felt sure the readers leapt from page to page in order to figure out the how rather than the what. For example, how will the heroine overcome the mother-in-law who is a werewolf? Or the inevitable evil estate agent? Or the fact that she has seen her beloved with his sister and confuses the woman for a rival? How?
But it's not just that, is it?
We love these characters! That ditzy, quirky secretary, whose only friend is her cat. And Mr. Boone, the tycoon, her boss, who we soon learn has a tender side, hidden by arrogance only because he was hurt once before -- by a secretary, no less! So much do we love them that even though we know they're going to end up together, we want to share in their joy by watching it happen. We want to attend the wedding, even if it goes on for 20 pages after the actual plot has peaked...
By conincidence, I saw the last two (wonderful!) episodes of the Danish historical drama 1864 last night. Sure enough, we had a wedding. Sure enough, even though the main plot had been resolved, the director spent the last thirty minutes slowly resolving every remaining thread of the story. And it was beautiful.
No wonder people keep telling me my endings are abrupt!
People like suspence. They enjoy mystery. And I used to think -- until about two days ago -- that this mystery was the only thing that pulled them all the way to the end of a novel.
"No spoilers!" they cry on the interwebs and that sound rises to a scream just before every episode of A Game of Thrones or Dr. Who comes on the telly.
But then, how do we explain Mills and Boone Romance novels? We know from the first few pages that the feuding couple are going to be in each other's arms by the end of the book, so where is the mystery there?
I thought I knew the answer to that particular puzzle: I felt sure the readers leapt from page to page in order to figure out the how rather than the what. For example, how will the heroine overcome the mother-in-law who is a werewolf? Or the inevitable evil estate agent? Or the fact that she has seen her beloved with his sister and confuses the woman for a rival? How?
But it's not just that, is it?
We love these characters! That ditzy, quirky secretary, whose only friend is her cat. And Mr. Boone, the tycoon, her boss, who we soon learn has a tender side, hidden by arrogance only because he was hurt once before -- by a secretary, no less! So much do we love them that even though we know they're going to end up together, we want to share in their joy by watching it happen. We want to attend the wedding, even if it goes on for 20 pages after the actual plot has peaked...
By conincidence, I saw the last two (wonderful!) episodes of the Danish historical drama 1864 last night. Sure enough, we had a wedding. Sure enough, even though the main plot had been resolved, the director spent the last thirty minutes slowly resolving every remaining thread of the story. And it was beautiful.
No wonder people keep telling me my endings are abrupt!