Abigail Fredrickson

Cliffhangers.  The double-edged sword of the writing world.  The tool that many writers love to torture their readers with.  The invention that drives readers crazy and makes them rush to the next chapter or book to see what’s next.

I love to surprise my readers with cliffhangers.  Whether they appreciate it or not is debatable.  But they’re a well known staple in the writing world.  Nearly every writer will hang their readers off a cliff at some point.  It creates tension, excitement, questions that need to be answered.  But how do they work?  How do you, as a writer, craft a successful cliffhanger?

It can be quite simple really.  The key is to cut the chapter (or book) off at the right point.  Introduce a plot twist and then end the chapter right afterwards.  Give rise to a conflict and then press pause right before it reaches its pitch.  In some genres, forcing characters to split up in some way is often a good point; readers know that things are certain to go down after a split, or if someone was left behind, that creates tension entirely by itself.  Consider books, movies, shows that you enjoyed and think back to points where there was an abrupt ending and you kept going because you had to know what would happen next.

Cliffhangers can be big and small, they can be as quiet as they can be dramatic.  This may seem a bit odd, but it’s true.  A cliffhanger at the end of the chapter is certainly compelling, and if I’m forced to put the book down then, it will be in the back of my mind until I can pick it up again.  But a cliffhanger at the end of a book has me throwing my hands in the air and asking the universe why it would do this to me.  Some cliffhangers are more subtle, questions that came up in a conversation, or give the sense of the quiet before a storm.  Others blare in your face, the villain winning (assumedly temporarily), a drastic change of circumstances, a traitor revealing themselves.

An example of a quieter cliffhanger from a story I’ve written: I let the characters take down the big bad, they took back their kingdom, they, for the most part, won.  But I let one key enemy slip away, out of reach.  The readers didn’t know what was going to happen with that enemy, they didn’t know where I was going to go with this, but the main conflict of the book was done.  I was simply setting up for the next.

An example of a bigger one is, say, ending the book on a fakeout death (or a real one!), or some other drastic situation (ie. amnesia).

Chapter-wise, I’ve given some cliffhangers by setting up a conflict, by ending a chapter right as the characters get caught by an enemy, by having someone captured, etc.

Sometimes all it really takes is one sentence at the very end to have your readers sitting up and going ‘Heyyy, don’t stop it there!’  Mentioning a whiff of smoke or the clink of chain mail can very well be enough to get your readers speeding to the next chapter.

Considering the variety, it makes it much easier to sprinkle more cliffhangers throughout your writing, even if they’re just a few lowkey ones that keep your readers going or have it hanging at the back of their mind.

If you haven’t tried it out, I recommend slipping one or two in there.  I certainly know that it’s quite fun to watch my friends groan at the end of the update, not wanting to wait for the next one.

Look at what you have planned, if you’re one to plan things out, and pick spots that would be good for a cliffhanger.  Slip them in!  It’ll add some easy suspense to your story. 😀

What are some cliffhangers you guys have come up with (if they’re not a spoiler of course!)?  What are some you experienced that had you going crazy with suspense?