Deborah Cooke: Author

I do love my analogies, and on the way home Saturday – after teaching that workshop – I realized the other half of one I had begun earlier that day. Let’s close the circle.

We were talking about what readers love about romance novels, and my theory is that one of the things that brings readers back to the romance section is reliving the rollercoaster ride of falling in love. They read for the vicarious thrill, according to this theory. I also said that the Dark Moment is critical to the success of a romance novel and reader satisfaction, thus writing a good Dark Moment is imperative for a romance writer hoping to build audience.

(The Dark Moment, for those of you unfamiliar with writer-talk, is the moment at the end of the book when all appears to be lost. It is often the external conflict manifested in its worst case scenario. It’s the big test of the characters’ new relationship and their ability to work as a team – and their ability to overcome the challenge of the Dark Moment is possible because of the character arc that each of them have just followed. They have just changed and learned, and so the worst case scenario that would have driven them apart if it had happened at the beginning of the book can have a different and better ending. I like really dark Dark Moments myself, and that’s because the successful navigation of a Dark Moment (of the worst case scenario) proves to me as a reader that these characters really will have an H.E.A. afterward. If they can conquer that, they can do anything. That leaves me confident of their future together.)

But I realized on the way home that the rollercoaster analogy is perfect, if taken one step further. The Dark Moment is the last big hill on the roller coaster in this analogy. It’s really the reason that you ride the rollercoaster in the first place. Sure, there’s all those early thrills but the real point is the climb to the top of that big hill. Ooo, the suspense. Ooo, the anticipation. Ooo, here comes the really good bit – are you going to hang on, or wave your hands in the air?

A truly great rollercoaster is one with a really great last hill, one that is ascended slowly, one that gives you just a breath at the top to see how far down it is, then plunges down the hill, racing to the bottom. I like the ones that have a little twist right at the end. I also like the ones that let you be airborne if you don’t hang on – of course, they have braces to keep you from being thrown out of your seat, and of course there’s no real risk of injury. It’s a safe thrill.

The test is when the rollercoaster slides into the loading zone and stops hard. If it’s a good rollercoaster – with a great last hill – the first thing you do (if you’re a rollercoaster fan like me) is get back in the line to do it again. If it’s a mediocre rollercoaster, you go look for another option. As with rollercoasters, so with romance novels – the ones with the great Dark Moments and satisfying resolution go on the keeper shelf; the ones that have less terrific endings leave me looking for another author to try.

Does that make sense?