My character wants love but I want to end my book with out it. Will that kill it or as long as I twist it in there? I'm a little scared that I won't pull off that smile of satisfaction at the end of the book without the romance since a lot of books I've read show that's usually a strong ending. Of course I've read others without it.. but of course it's few. This is the first time I'm jotting down an actual story so any comments will help.
If it's that smile of satisfaction that you're after on the final page, then there will need to be a different resolution, or closure, for the character. What that closure will be will depend totally on what you are writing, but that there be a different closure is inarguable. So the question is not how to accomplish X without Y, but instead what replaces Y to satisfy X.
Ok, well for the general my book is about this girl who has her life as she wants it but doesn't understand where she stands because she doesn't understand her emotions especially when it comes to sex and relationships. As appealing as she is, she has never felt right. She feels that these soft "dinner and a movie" trend she's gone through are way too cliche. But, doesn't know where to start until she comes across something that catches her eyes and goes for it. It leads her into these dark holes that regular people would be destroyed from but she recovers from with wonderment. There's rape, public sex, abnormal clubs (industrial, fetish events). These events from her pov would actually be educational, a little artsy in her curiosity.
Wrey's got it right. A story is about a character wanting something and trying to get it despite the opposition. But in many cases it's not that something that the character really wants, it's the idea that something represents. For instance, a character might seek love on the surface, but underneath she's really seeking an affirmation of self-worth. Therefore, the character can satisfy her story arc by attaining the affirmation of self-worth from any source. That can lead to a bittersweet ending, as well, since maybe she loses out on love but still walks away having gained something. In short, the character doesn't have to get the exact something he's yearning for. He just has to get something, and preferably something that represents his true, intangible goal.
Alright, that totally helps. I have the ideas I want. Even annoyed my bf because I keep writing on napkins for my ideas. But, I was just worried about that so it kind of put me on a mini roadblock and not allowing my to focus for a few days even though I was still at the beginning of my book.
