Happy Endings Matter - Romance Writers Weekly - #lovechatwrite

This week’s topic on the blog hop is:

Discuss why happy endings matter in romance fiction.

Here’s the thing. If it doesn’t have a happy ending, it is not romance. It might be women’s fiction, but it is not romance. Because that’s the basic definition of the genre – a story about a relationship that ends happily.

For those of us who love to read and write romance, it is the route to the happy ending that draws us in. It could be a paranormal or fantasy, full of action or set in an Amish village, with graphic descriptions of sex or only a chaste kiss. The details don’t matter, because we know the ending will be satisfying, for us as readers and for the characters.

So maybe the question is why is romance and its guaranteed happy ending the best-selling genre (out-performing by miles the next best selling, mysteries, which have their own version of happy endings)?

Because we as humans crave joy. We are constantly seeking a level of equilibrium in our lives that provide contentment and want to read fiction that shows us that. We like to read about people who have the same issues and difficulties (or at least some of them) that we do finding their way through trials and tribulations and achieving their hard won goals.

Because if they can do it, maybe we can too.

Romances are not textbooks showing us the way to reach our own happy ending. But they can be inspiring, freeing, and enlightening. And that’s why I read and write them.

Now hop over to Jenna Da Sie to read her answer.

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