Post by K'Sennia Visitor on Aug 26, 2018 19:16:26 GMT
How do you feel about cliffhangers? Do you hate them, love them, feel indifferently towards them? Do you use cliffhangers in your series or serial books? I was reading a nonfiction writing guide where it was suggested that cliffhangers should be used inside the book to hook readers to keep them reading from chapter to chapter, but that you should always get your readers off the cliff by the end of the book. This technique applies to fiction, too, of course. As well as to sales letters. I feel like there are different levels of cliffhangers.
Sometimes it's as simple as asking a question, or getting the reader to ask a question that they want answered. This should be a natural element of all stories, really. If your readers aren't asking questions and don't want to know what happens next then your story has failed them. Of course, you don't want to be obnoxious or really obvious about it. You don't want to taunt your readers, "see what I just did there? Huh, huh? Bet you wanna know the answer to that? Betcha do, but I'm not gonna tell ya right now." Ideally, there should be so much going on that your reader is constantly focused on the page in front of them so that they aren't sitting there wondering about all the cliffhangers.
And then there are regular cliffhangers where you end the book with a character in jeopardy or some major question, or sometimes just a hint of something to come. As a reader I don't mind gentle cliffhangers, and I don't mind bigger ones if I can get the next book right away. For my Pain Club Series I ended the first book with a bit of interest and intrigue, but with the next couple of books I ended them with major cliffhangers. I ended book three mid-scene, in fact. Then I wrapped it all up satisfyingly in the last book. (I hope anyway.) The books sold really well (for me - objectively bad for most people), so I guess it kinda, sorta worked?
I'm hoping to do much better in my next books!
What about you? How do you handle cliffhangers, big and small?
Obligatory link from my favorite kids edu show.
