As part of a project some friends and I are doing on Goodreads I have had the opportunity to read several books by young adult authors. Sarah Dessen has since emerged as one of my favorites. I have now read three of her novels: This Lullaby (2002), Just Listen (2006), and Along for the Ride (2009). I enjoyed all three thoroughly, but I couldn't help but notice a certain pattern emerging.
All three books star strong, independent teenage girls who have just graduated (or will soon graduate) from high school. The plots seem to follow the same path. The main character is forced to grow up too quickly and as a result has been either ostracized and/or has missed certain common teenage experiences. Enter the love interest, who is usually somewhat quirky and has a great passion for music. The two meet, fall into a close friendship/relationship, break up, and get back together again. The girl moves on with her life but stays in contact with the boy, and everyone has learned something about themselves. The end.
Sarah Dessen is certainly not the only author to use certain formulas to crank out book after book after book. In my opinion, a huge chunk of novels in the romance genre seems to follow a certain pattern: girl meets boy, they fall in love, they break up, they get back together, and they live happily ever after.
My question, then, is this: If we know what's going to happen, then why do we even bother reading these books, or for that matter, watching romantic movies? I have friends and family members on both ends of this argument. Take my father, for example. He won't even watch my favorite romantic comedy because it's "too predictable." Then there is my former roommate, Juliana, who is almost offended when a novel she reads doesn't have a predictable ending. So who is right? Is there value in a story that has an easily anticipated ending?
Of course, like so many things in life, it's a matter of opinion. I personally believe that formulaic stories have a lot of value. I don't like Sarah Dessen's novels because they are predictable. I like them because she tells her stories with wit and creates worlds and characters that are both likable and relatable. To me it's not so much "if" the couple will be together by the end of the story, but "how." Perhaps it takes less stress off of me as the reader to come along for the ride rather than have to guess the story's ending. Don't get me wrong, I love a book with a lot of twists and turns, but there's something comforting in knowing that everything is going to be wrapped up at the end.
This leads me to another question. Is it okay for an author to find her formulaic niche, as it were, and stick to it? Will her books still sell, or will the readers get tired of the same old story and decide to try something new? Will she be forced, eventually, to come out of her comfort zone and try something different? I think these are good questions to ask, especially as an aspiring author. I suppose I don't really have the answers here. What do you think?
