Amber’s comment > Likes and Comments

Very well written. Although I would’ve definitely agreed with you had I looked at Nicholas Sparks’s writing from a more logical point of view, here’s a more emotional opinion.

I personally think that the reason most of his story lines carries the same description (like sweet tea, white porches, death, North Carolina etc) is because he is very authentic. I believe the reason we find so many similarities in his books are because these are the things that he has experienced and finds attractive on a personal level. I noticed the way he describes a woman’s hair or her ability to stay strong through the toughest of times. Maybe these are the traits that made him fall in love in the first place.
Yes, he knows how to write men or characters that women fall in love with, but why is that? Its because he’s organic- he sticks to what he knows (u know what they say “the secret to successful writing is writing what you know best”)

Secondly, the reason I believe many women love his books is because of the innocence in his characters, the ability of not only finding true love, but doing it with dignity rather than wild sexual nonsense which are filled in every book nowadays and are easily forgotten.

Most of his books include tragic losses, because he lost his only sister through cancer. He includes diseases like Asperger’s, Autism, Amnesia etc because his son suffered from autism, his father died from a car crash and his mother died from a horse-back riding accident. I believe writing novels revolving such incidences helped him cope with the pain he endured over the years.

He grew up loving Stephen King and says that he spent his teenage years writing horror stories. Although he hasn’t published any with exactly that genre, he has expanded his field of comfortability in ‘Safe Haven’, and I believe he did a pretty good job in terms of suspense and surprise.

I think he is creative and can definitely bring a page to life with his words and writing skill, but he has admitted the following and quote “Writing is an art but publishing is a business. I have to have a theme that appeals to a lot of people”

I think reconciliation has very little to do with the tragedy of the situation. Although you have a pretty interesting take from your end, I was glad to have learnt a little bit about your background which has helped shape the basis of your judgment.

I think that the level of tragedy one learns to outgrow doesn’t necessarily have to do with a particular phenomenon. On one hand, one can experience the death of a loved one and never recover from it, and on the other, one might experience betrayal and recover from it over the course of time albeit slowly.

Love is immortal. If someone betrays me, at least I can exercise the mere act of hate just to get over the person. I wouldn’t be able to do the same to someone who has passed away- there’s unfinished business, there’s misunderstanding and most importantly, there’s the ‘not-knowing’ part that keeps you from moving on.

Don’t get me wrong. I haven’t experienced the loss of a loved one (yet!) But I have experienced betrayal, and it’s not pretty. That gut wrenching feeling never seems to subside, and I know a thing or two about that.

I do however agree with you when it comes to the positivity aspect in Nicholas Sparks’s novels. He knows how to write about second chances and about eventually learning to let go.

From what you've written, I would guess that you were going through a rough patch at the moment. So a bit of advice from the stranger behind the computer, I’d just like to tell you to hang in there, it gets better with time..yada yada yada. From your profile, it’s evident that you’re an artist, so writing can be your way out or singing about it could help you let go. Either way, I think you will figure it out.

With the greatest of tragedies come the best of strength; and with the best of strength come the best of stories.