Hard to Decide When to End your Book?

by Shobhan Bantwal

After you have dreamed up a marvelous storyline, engaging characters, and an intriguing opening for your novel, are you perhaps stumped about how to end your tale? There is the danger of falling in love with your own story and wanting it to go on and on, right? So when, where, and how to end one's book can sometimes be a challenge, at least for me.

I am a hopeless romantic, therefore I want a sweet and/or dramatic end. In my debut book, The Dowry Bride, the original version ended in an epilogue, with my heroine and hero blissfully married and expecting their first child. Throughout the story, they manage to overcome the endless roadblocks with grace and tenacity, so I wanted a truly gratifying closure.

However, I had two very discerning and bright critique partners who pointed out that delving into the characters' future was like licking the stale sauce off a plate of fine food left on the counter overnight. In other words, overkill.

Well, that certainly squashed my sentimental finale. So how did I manage to keep my readers satisfied and yet conclude the story on an interesting note? My heroine learns from her experiences that freedom is vital to her, despite her deep love for the hero. She wants to savor her newly-gained independence from her abusive marriage before she will commit to marrying another man. In the end I hinted at abiding love and wedding bells for the future without actually portraying them, leaving something for the readers to ponder when they closed the book.

A couple of my subsequent books also end on a positive note without the proverbial "happily-ever-after." I believe readers are more erudite today than fiction readers of yesteryear. Their lifestyles and tastes are diverse. A broader range of readers as well as writers has altered the literary scene. The ever-widening spectrum of genres attests to that fact. My own books are sold as multi-cultural women's fiction with strong romantic elements, a mixed genre unheard of several years ago.

As a consequence, the storyline, including the ending, has become trickier for a multi-genre writer like me. While my romantic heart wants a love-forever closure, I try to curb that instinct, and instead introduce a buoyant conclusion without the sappiness. So far, because my books are not pure romance, this strategy has worked very effectively for me.

I would love to hear your viewpoints, experiences, and comments about endings.

You can reach me at my website: www.shobhanbantwal.com or my Facebook page.

Romance in Arranged Marriage - Oxymoron or Possibility?

By Shobhan Bantwal

Despite my 40-year-old arranged marriage and my conservative childhood in small-town India, I’m a hopeless romantic. Surprised? Why else would I write my India-centric stories bubbling with drama, emotion, colorful ethnic characters, rich cultural elements, and most importantly romance?

Contrary to popular belief, most modern Indian arranged marriages are rooted in mutual liking and respect. Most couples have the choice of rejection if they take an instant dislike to each other or have serious doubts about a future together.

While many think a "romantic arranged marriage" is a contradiction, I believe it is possible to have romance in a relationship built on a practical foundation. In fact, when parents of potential brides and grooms research suitable matches for their children, they invariably choose someone with similar family values, and compatible economic, educational, and social backgrounds.

But then again, falling in love and finding one's own soul-mate can be such fun!

Some folks seem to view arranged marriage as a quaint and antiquated custom of two strangers entering blindly into a loveless union forced by their elders. Nonetheless, from personal experience and the examples amongst my family and friends, I can safely say arranged love is the kind that may be slow to ignite, mature, and stabilize, but it is an abiding love that often lasts a lifetime. I call it “arranged love.”

In my humble opinion, romance is not always about roses, champagne, and diamonds, although it does have a special appeal. Sometimes being there for each other in sickness and health, through the ups and downs of life, raising children, and sharing a few laughs is more precious than wine and moonlight.

Besides, isn’t every marriage or long-term relationship a gamble to some degree, no matter which way the partners meet? I have to confess though, that my fiction is vastly different from my personal life. In my stories, the hero and heroine fall in love, experience some wild adventures, and often go against cultural dictates.

My latest book, The Reluctant Matchmaker, is the story of a petite Indian-American woman, Meena, who falls in love with her super-tall boss. Things get complicated when he requests her assistance in finding a suitably tall bride for himself. So is Meena going to help him or find some way to make him fall in love with her?

I would love to hear your thoughts on love and life-long relationships.

You can reach me at my website: www.shobhanbantwal.com or my Facebook page.

Choosing Settings in Fiction

By Shobhan Bantwal

Could your setting make or break your novel?

If the settings in fiction books could talk they would have plenty to say about themselves. They could also speak out in their own defense if an author has not researched them well or has given erroneous information. And yet, despite their inability to literally talk, settings do make a clear statement in each and every book.

Whether your story occurs here on earth or some imaginary place, setting will undoubtedly play a major role in how readers react to your story.

Why choose a unique setting?

Setting is as vital to a story as the characters and the plot. No one lives in a vacuum, not even fictional people. The characters' lives revolve around the rhythm and pulse of the town or city they reside in. In that sense, the backdrop takes on a life of its own and becomes yet another character in the story.

Editors and literary agents alike seem to agree that unusual settings are worth seeking out in the thousands of manuscripts they are inundated with year after year. A book's setting could make the difference between a sale and no-sale for a debut author.

One of the reasons my agent, the late Elaine Koster (Koster Literary Agency) signed me on back in 2005 was because she loved my debut book's (THE DOWRY BRIDE) setting: a small, fictional town in southwestern India, full of political conflict, community spirit, cultural contradictions, and natural beauty. 

Utopia or Dystopia

New authors may want everything in their books to be picture-perfect. Nonetheless, to be realistic, just like characters, a setting needs to have its imperfections exposed along with its assets. It is the author's creativity and expert treatment of the background that makes the difference between ordinary and stunning.

While it is hard to envision a dysfunctional or dismal world as a setting for a good story, many famous writers have made dystopian backgrounds work brilliantly for them. William Golding's Lord of the Flies and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World are highly successful older dystopian novels that have the set the tone for more recent authors like Terry Brooks, who published Armageddon's Children in 2007.

Building your extraordinary world

The age-old adage, "write what you know" is often the best advice in choosing a setting. However, the challenge of picking and researching an unfamiliar place may be exactly what an author needs to get those creative juices flowing.

Nevertheless, research is still the number one rule for success in terms of credibility and authenticity of settings. The characters need to fit into their environment like peas inside a pod.

Research today is so much simpler. Almost every city in the free world seems to have a website, with information on its geography, history, ecology, points of interest, demographics, and economic data.

No matter what kind of setting one chooses, it is necessary to do some homework first. Yes, it requires work, but it can pay rich dividends later.

Location involves culture

Culture is an integral part of a book's setting. The residents, the language, the cuisine, the dress, the traditions—they all come together to form the background for a riveting piece of fiction. To make a story credible, it is vital to stay true to the uniqueness of the community.

Setting is one element in fiction that can stretch as far and as wide as your imagination can take you. The sky is literally the limit, as evidenced by the popularity of sci-fi novels. You can pick almost any corner of the solar system and make it a memorable backdrop for your stories.

Does unusual setting equal success?

Literary success is never a guarantee, even if all the elements in a book are outstanding. Why? Because success is based on multiple and complex factors, only one of them being setting.

Unusual settings do not always lead to greatness either. On the other hand, the success rate in capturing the attention of an editor or agent can be high when it comes to extraordinary backdrops, something worth keeping in mind. Besides, choosing a location and making it work can be one of the most creatively fulfilling aspects of fiction writing.

You can reach me at my website: www.shobhanbantwal.com or my Facebook page.

Writing in First Person or Third - A Tough Choice?

by Shobhan Bantwal

As authors we sometimes find ourselves torn between writing in first person and third person. I know I have, on a number of occasions. Consequently I have two novels written in first person and four in third person. My latest book, The Reluctant Matchmaker is in first person and has earned good reviews.

Both kinds have their pros and cons, which is why some of us find the decision so hard to make. Here are some of my own thoughts about the negatives and positives of each approach.

First-person stories:

  * I enjoy the more personal and intimate examination and mining of the protagonist's psyche.

   * Every scene is portrayed through the eyes, ears, and emotions of the heroine/hero.

   * Depending on how skillfully an author develops the main character, this "from-the-heart" story-telling could hook the reader from page one.

   * If the character is uncomplicated, the amount of research needed may be minimal since it encompasses only one person's depth of knowledge.

   * Self-examination and self-recrimination can be deeper and even brutally honest. 

   * However, the "I-I, Me-Me, My-My"-filled pages can make the protagonist seem self-centered. Some reviews of my own books have alluded to this unfortunate element.

   * The author loses the opportunity to introduce all the other significant characters' thoughts which can potentially make or break a novel.

Third-person stories:

   * The author has the luxury of delving into more than one character's mind and introducing many points of view.

   * Each character develops multiple facets, adding rich and fascinating layers to the emerging story.

   * The dynamics of complicated relationships and communications can be rendered more effectively, with every character given a reason for their respective words and actions.

   * On the other hand, there is the inherent risk of the author's omniscient voice "telling" too much and not "showing" enough.

   * Also, too many POVs can clutter up the story and/or complicate the plot.

Have you struggled with this first-person versus third-person issue? Tell us about it.

Website: www.shobhanbantwal.com

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ShobhanBantwal.author