It should feel like this*:
I've discussed this before, here. And THANK YOU to Elle Strauss for reminding me of this epidemic in published fiction, with her blog post, here.
Authors and editors:
Endings should be BIG. The reader should be able to pinpoint the CLIMAX, the point where all the conflict that has been building over the course of the novel has finally reached its PEAK-- even if the book is part of a series, the ending of each book should resolve something. This should be the biggest, most INTENSE conflict of the entire novel. It should feel like a SHOWDOWN between the protagonist and the antagonist (whoever or whatever the antagonist happens to be).
The number one reason I knock off a star from a book rating is because the ending wasn't big enough or it didn't satisfy. This needs to stop. This needs to change. It's bringing down the quality of our reading choices.
~Lydia
* language warning
This is one of the biggest problems I usually have with some books. I read pass the climax and I wonder "wait a minute, did I just read the climax. Oh, yes, I did. Okay..." Usually, those books don't get onto my list of favorite books, since those tend to have an explicit final confrontation that makes it clear that "this is the moment where things go down".
ReplyDelete(Ironically, one of my least favorite books last year saved its protagonist from complete apathy by having a tragic and powerful climax where he garners some sympathy through his situation. Not that he was ever redeemable, which was why I hated it. It's a character-driven novel with an apathetic protagonist. Not a good combination).
I'm writing through one of those moments. Really, it's one of two climax, the one for the "relationship arc", so to say, happening earlier, with this one being for the "dramatic arc". Both are showdowns in their own right.
Lydia, I don't know that it will stop. It's like some writers painted themselves into the corner of a room and can't work out how to get out. I read a mystery, billed as a thriller. Premise wasn't so bad, but that's where it began to unravel. The ending was forced, actually silly and ...
ReplyDeleteI was reminded once again ... it takes a great deal of patience and skill to bring anything worth doing to a climax (she says tongue in cheek) :)
I am the same way. I will absolutely ding a book a star if the ending doesn't deliver.
ReplyDeleteWhen I write, I almost always know what the climax will be, and I build toward it. Whether it's a single moment or a scene or the plot twist or the entire third act, I write the rest of the book anticipating the climax. So when I read, I do the same. I anticipate where the author is leading me and get excited, and if it doesn't deliver, I am disappointed in the whole thing.
Amen. The climax is the reason I read a book, usually. Don't skimp on me!
ReplyDeleteYup. I have read many books that I LOVED until the end and then boom. Disappointment. Great post Lydia:)
ReplyDeleteThat video was a great way to describe the climax. Just as you said, I had a climax in a book that wasn't big enough. When I rewrote it, upping the intensity and do-or-die quality, it was much better. Thanks, Lydia!
ReplyDelete