Publishing and Self-publishing: Advice for Writers

Write a "satisfying" ending (in romance novels)

I just got a question sa PM from an author who wanted a sad ending while her readers wanted a happy ending. Who wins?

So this is my #romanceclass lesson on endings: Happy, or sad, it doesn't matter - it must be satisfying.

What is satisfying?

Mahirap yan, kasi each story is different. A happy ending is (usually) satisfying, because when you spend so many chapters asking if GIRL and BOY should be together, then the satisfying answer should be YES. (Otherwise, ano yung point ng lahat ng pinagdaanan nila?)

An unhappy ending (where two people don't end up together) can also be satisfying, when it's obvious from how the story was told that it doesn't matter what GIRL and BOY had in the past, because the future WILL ONLY BE BETTER IF THEY'RE NOT WITH EACH OTHER.

If characters remain the same, and all obstacles to their love have been removed, but they still choose not to be together? Not satisfying. (Kasi, BAKIT? ANONG HADLANG? Ano ang punto ng hadlang kung ayaw nyo rin pala kahit walang hadlang?)

A happy ending can also be NOT SATISFYING when characters change so much in the story and still choose to be together even though they've outgrown each other.

(You might think "BUT IT'S THE JOURNEY THAT MATTERS" - yes, if you're a skilled author. Many readers will judge you by your ending, and it takes a VERY GOOD WRITER to keep a reader who hates your ending.)

When readers react and want certain characters together (even though you didn't mean for it to end that way), that's not a bad thing. It means you did an excellent job of designing those characters, and you wrote good scenes with them together. Ang problema lang? Hindi nakatulong sa punto mo.

I'm not saying this is how Wattpad stories should be written (because the Wattpad format is different, serialized kasi like a teleserye) but romance novels are written with an ending in mind.

In fact, all your scenes, all your character's decisions, should support the ending. Walang scene na wala lang, walang scene na patapon. Lahat ng obstacles, may katuturan. Lahat in support of the ending the writer has in mind.

Kapag hindi happy ang readers sa ending mo, baka kasi mas marami kang scenes na hindi sumusuporta sa ending mo. (Pero minsan may reader na may sariling idea lang talaga how your book should end, and that's OK. Hindi mo rin naman ito mako-control.)

This is the problem that editors have and will have with turning Wattpad stories into novels. Dahil serialized at hindi buong nobela nung sinulat, hindi rin ayon sa guidelines ng nobela ang kwento. Iba ang pace, iba ang character development, maraming scenes na hindi ayon sa structure. If you want to write a novel, you'll have to learn how to structure a novel. (Iba ang novel sa Wattpad story talaga.)

Also: A romance story is the story of a relationship. You are not obligated to show each character's life story from birth to death. Readers of romance want to know only the story of THIS relationship, and it's the author's job to tell it. No need to include anything unnecessary.