ENDINGS

By Mageela Troche

While I was watching David Tennant’s tenure as “The Doctor” come to an end, I started thinking about endings -- the all-important denouement, where more than plot stories are tied up nicely. As a reader, we desire that bittersweet sensation that has us telling everyone what a great story we just read. How many times have you read a book then threw it aside because the ending sucked and left you empty? For me, when that happens, the whole book loses its shine and taints the whole novel.

Years ago, I remember the final episode of “M*A*S*H.” It was the most watched television show, but the next day, people hated it. They weren’t pleased at what happen to the characters that they invited into their homes. Till this day, when I watch a rerun with friends, someone always mentions how sucky the show ended.

As a writer, I try to understand what makes a worthy ending. Is it the happily ever after? Is it being left with hope? Or like with David Tennant’s final words, “I don’t want to go.” While I’m sitting before my TV, connected to this story, I am thinking I don’t want you too either.

The ending is about having our emotions stirred whether with fulfillment or longing. I love reading the final word, and feeling the tight grip in my chest because I know that I’ve been touched and changed.

So when I write, I strive to stir my readers so the last word has them sighing with a sense of contentment. That accomplishment starts on the first page. It’s not an easy one, either. The emotion has to be imprinted on the each page shown by using all the tricks of the writer’s trade. Emotion is one skill I’m always working to improve. After all, we’re writing romance and must show our hero and heroine falling in love, and that includes all the ups and down, topsy-turvy craziness of that emotion. ♥




Mageela Troche has sold two stories to Dorchester’s True Love Magazine and is most likely banging her head against her desk as she figures out ways to make things worse for her hero and heroine.