Earning the happy ending ... why do lovers have to go through hell to get to heaven?
I think I need help on this one. It’s the “going through hell to get to heaven” question. And be brave, we may encounter dragons.
a dragon (not Noelle)
Last week I suggested that folks read romance novels for the happy endings. This was after my friend Richie complained that his wife, Noelle, was buying even more of “those books” than before the big recession, thus confirming what he had read in the Advertiser about a national trend during tough economic times. So we asked Noelle why she read them and she said for the happy endings, just like life.
At the time, Richie and I were watching our favorite NFL team, the Colts, win easily over the Cardinals. Connecting this happy sports ending with the happy romantic ending that Noelle pursues in her novels helped Richie stop worrying about her book purchases. (I’m sure he’s found something else to worry about by now … maybe Sarah Palin again … and I’ll be hearing about it.)
Last Sunday, with Richie happy, and Noelle happy, and Peyton Manning and the Colts happy, I concluded that some days life is so sweet and so uncomplicated. But … now I’m wondering about all the trouble that lies in store for the characters in romance novels. They may meet on page one, or ten, or whenever, and they may enjoy a glorious romantic ending on page 250, or 350, or whenever, but you know the author is going to make life hard for them, putting them, and the readers, through the romantic wringer. At some points, and for chapter after chapter, life is just hell. Sure, we feel great at the end, but it’s so darn frustrating along the way.
Let’s make this multiple choice. You can add your answers to this. Feel free to comment. It won’t be graded. Now some of these answers may sound like things your mother used to tell you, or still tells you, and maybe she was right, but let’s see.
Q: Why do lovers have to go through hell to get to heaven?
a) They’ll appreciate it so much more when they have to earn it (thanks a lot, Mom).
b) Fiction writers love conflict, and they’ve been told a thousand times, “More conflict!” (in my case, two thousand times).
c) Anything worth having is worth working for (Mom, enough already!).
d) The course of true love never did run smooth (so now Shakespeare is chiming in, and this one is tempting … does it mean that the romance novels are realistic?).
e) Women (or men) are not so easy to catch these days, but the fun is in the chase (just be sure your self-esteem is not down a quart).
f) Romance novels are simply following the lead of all novels, with protagonists and antagonists, and a beginning, middle, and end (and everyone knows that characters, and writers, suffer through those long middles).
g) Go ask your father (sure, Mom, why didn’t I think of that?).
h) Love is a priceless treasure guarded by a ferocious dragon, and only the bravest and best looking hero and heroine can battle the dragon and win the treasure, and the lovers must be not only brave and good looking but also careful planners, and decide before they get there who’s going to steal the treasure and who’s going to drive the getaway car (okay, this answer is probably a crock, but you have to admit it’s romantic).
i) Your answer goes here _________________ (unless you’ve used up your three answers already … Mom).
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Coming soon:
In the next couple of weeks we'll be looking at ... romance in Lee Cataluna's Folks You Meet in Longs ... writing romance on Kauai with Jill Marie Landis ... "The Three F's of Adolescence and Harry Potter" (finding myself, friends, and first love) with Cami Nihipali ... "Designing Woman" with Honolulu book designer Stephanie Chang ... and "Feeding Romance" (What makes a good romantic dinner, and do romantic characters stop to eat?) ... as well as a surprise or two.
Tags: Cami Nihipali, Jill Marie Landis, Lee Cataluna, Peyton Manning, Romance, Stephanie Chang
October 10th, 2009 at 1:20 am
"It's the journey, not the destination."
H.G. Well's "The Time Machine" comes to mind, in a broader sense. The Eloi get everything they could possibly want - a stress-free life, the ability to pursue their every desire and whim with no consequence - but at the expense of the back-breaking labor of the Morlocks. And what is the point of that lifestyle if there is no yin to that yang? As writers, we have the responsibility to make the readers earn their sunny outcome by dragging them through the trenches in order to get there, because without that struggle, the payoff is worth nothing.