You always get more respect when you don’t have a happy ending.

So says brilliant romance author Julia Quinn. Yes, romance. But without a happily ever after?

Take a look at the ending of your manuscript. What would happen if it was the exact opposite of how you wrote it? What would be the results, and the consequences? How would it leave the readers feeling? How would it color everything you’ve already written?

Try it. See how it changes your perception of your entire book, and your characters’ lives.

Have you taken the predictable way out?