Hope everyone's holiday season was a blast! Mine was pretty good. Throughout the holiday season, I was constantly reminded of how wonderfully God works in every situation in life and how utterly AMAZING it was for Him to be born for us in the manger as a baby. :) Just a thought, I guess.
I'm almost finished with my novel, "Greatest Is Found." Lately, I'm trying to figure out how to finish out the novel. If you were to write a novel, how would you go about it? Would you have the book end sad or happy? I haven't written the end of my own novel, per se, but I do know that it will have a happy ending. Most of my books do. Here are some of my books that have such a mysterious plot, I'll have all of you venture a guess as to whether or not it ended happy or sad:
- "The Sacrifice"---The story plot is set in the 1940's during World War II. However, the setting is in Germany where Clara Franklin and her family, journalists from America, come to Germany to write a story and to see the horror writhed within. They come to research about Jewish life, only to discover how terrible mistreated the Jews are. Clara falls in love with Zachariah Gideon, one of the Polish Jews there. He and his family decide to hide out in the flat where the Gideons are staying. However, the longer the Franklins stay in Germany, the more they realize how both their lives and especially the Gideons lives are at stake, and they discover the sacrifices they must make in order to either flee for their lives OR save their new friends. Do you think this book ends happy or sad?
- "Changed"---The story plot is set in present time, where Sophie Williams is abducted by five men who had all escaped from jail or prison sometime in their lifetimes. They are wanted fugitives, in a hunt to kill two brothers who'd once killed Jack Hayes' (one of the fugitives) family members. But the longer Sophie stays in their presence, the more she comes to realize that these are not bad men after all. They are just lost, poor souls who badly need to know and realize Christ's forgiveness life to start anew. Sophie and Jack, meanwhile, are starting to have feelings for one another. But everything changes when Jack and his men decide to one day turn from their sinful ways to turn themselves in to the police. So, do you think this book ends happy or sad?
- "To Be Remembered"---Even though I haven't finished writing the middle of this book, I have written the beginning and the end, haha. The story plot is set in the early 1900's of New York. It's about an Irish immigrant woman named Rosa, and her best friend where they come to America to find a better and happier life. They go to work at the Triangle Clothing Factory in New York. (For those of you who do not know this, the Triangle Clothing Factory caught fire in the early 1900's where 30-some women, mostly immigrants, all perished.) Meanwhile, Rosa falls in love with this American lawyer. The closer they get together, the more Rosa realizes what God has planned for her life, and also for her best friend's life. So, do you think this book ends happily or sadly?
The main reason why the difference of good and bad endings of books is so important is that they show the uniqueness of each story, individually. I learned a lot about such things in my Creative Writing college classes in past years. For example, a tragic ending to a book doesn't necessarily make the book a bad one. It simply makes it unique and shows how powerful of a message the author wants to give the story. If you're not convince of this fact, think about all the books by Nicolas Sparks. Almost all of his books, if not all of them, end in tragedy: "A Walk to Remember," "The Notebook," "Nights in Rodanthe," etc. But don't you remember laughing and gasping throughout those movies before getting to the end? You FELT for those characters and you sympathized with them, or you were angry when they were angry. Same thing with any book that ends tragically, or even if one ends happily. Books are written for one purpose and one purpose only: to portray a message. It doesn't matter what message it is (although for me, messages about God and His will and plan for our lives is always the BEST message). All that matters is that the message will be portrayed no matter what, no matter how long or short the book, no matter how wise the characters, no matter how sad or happy the endings.
Hope that gives y'all something to think about this month. For me, all my books come from God, and I'll never be thankful enough to Him for this amazing passion of writing, a true gift, that He's given me. :)
**WRITING TIP: "Never give up on the book, even if you know that it'll end tragically and you don't want that. It comes straight from the heart, and it's truly, truly yours."
**MONTHLY QUOTE: "There is not less wit, not less invention, in applying rightly a thought one finds in a book, than in being the first author of that book."--Pierre Boyle
Have a blessed January, everyone!! God bless and TTYL!!! Ta!! :D
JMG~~ ;)
