Cliffhanger Endings

ChaosTitan said:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alphabeter
As for novels, I don't know of a writer yet who has just one book about their characters, story or world.

To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee

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Harper Lee has been quoted as saying she has written other work but that she is afraid it will never live up to TKAM and it will not be released and/or published in her lifetime. Whether she still writes or not, she initially did not intend TKAM to be her only work.

The statement still stands. Harper Lee has more, she just won't share.

Alphabeter said:

Harper Lee has been quoted as saying she has written other work but that she is afraid it will never live up to TKAM and it will not be released and/or published in her lifetime. Whether she still writes or not, she initially did not intend TKAM to be her only work.

The statement still stands. Harper Lee has more, she just won't share.

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Whether or not it applies to Harper Lee, the statement doesn't stand. There are tons of authors who create a different world and different characters for every single book; although book series are increasingly common today, that's not all that's out there.

I think it depends on readers, really. I love cliffhangers (I watch Sherlock...and I wait 2 years for seasons to start over lol) but even in reading, I love cliffhangers, it makes me want to go and buy the next book even more than the ones who finish feeling "complete", since I can stop reading the series, not really caring about what happens compared to HAVING to know what happens next

Personally, I finished my manuscript and am already writing the second novel, and the books end in cliffhangers (not death cliffhangers though!)...but yeah, I just think it depends on people

I would also make sure, if you do plan on writing a series that end with cliffhangers, that the publisher/agent you're with knows this, and that there's a good chance they'll "take you on" for the next few novels as well

I like any cliffhanger that's done right. For me personally, that's when I'm left curious about what's next but temporarily satisfied with what I know.

Zombie thread!

I think cliffhangers are just agonizing unless they give some kind of closure. I personally find that novels that have a genuinely tragic ending and a cliffhanger of sorts which suggests an even bigger tragedy are not particularly good for my spirits. I think the real world as plenty as it is in terms of situations with a lack of closure so the thing about cliffhangers is that I don't feel the need to have a lack of closure in the fictional world as well.

I think cliffhangers are fun, depending on how it's done. (I didn't intend for that to rhyme, lol.)

My first round of beta readers mobbed me at work or flooded my email box because I dropped a bomb at the end of my story that no one saw coming--and just left it at that. Well, along with a couple other surprises. I believe in things--whether good or bad--happening in threes. So the end definitely had a few things going on which left folks wanting to know what happens next--and thus why I began writing book two right away.

BUT, then I remembered that I, personally, can't stand non-closure. So I added an epilogue which tied up some loose ends, enough to satisfy folks, while the cliffhanger still left readers looking forward to the next installment. I just pictured myself watching a movie that had me on edge, then ends abruptly without any closure--which drives me nuts! That, alone, often ruins the whole movie for me. So with that in mind, I think cliffhangers are nifty as long as you give your readers somewhat of a satisfying ending along "with" it.

I read a 265 page book recently, which had an ending that was frustrating because she ended it in the middle of action! Grrrr. It was crummy because nothing much happened in the first hundred pages, yet I continued to read just out of curiosity sake, then just as it got interesting then she ends it. Good grief. I'm so annoyed by it that I don't intend on buying book two when it comes out. I certainly don't want readers to feel that way about mine, lol.

For my first novel, I resolved the main plot by the end. But the antagonist got away and the last lines in the book make clear that something more must happen with the two protagonists in order to bring down the antagonist. So, maybe a teaser more than a cliffhanger.

EGGammon said:

Or will people hate the cliffhangers TOO much?

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Too much for what? To wait a year for the next book? Probably. To wait until the next book downloads? Maybe not.

Personally, I don't bother buying the next one. I also leave a bad review, noting the unresolved ending and the cheap attempt to get me to buy another book. But that only matters if I'm your target audience. Or if your target audience reads my review.

Jeff

I've always been under the impression that a cliffhanger can be used effectively to "introduce" the tension of the next story after the current story has been resolved. The point is you still need to have a satisifying ending for the story you're telling. Otherwise it's half a story.

I despise cliffhangers. I would (most likely) not buy the next book. There are very few book series that I would allow a cliffhanger or two. However, I do not like them for the most part.

This is due to my experiences with some books, games, movies, tv shows, etc, whose sequels were cancelled, so their stories would never be finished. Plus, cliffhangers stress me out, and once I'm stressed, I put the book down (or turn off the tv/game/etc).

I hate them, but I love them

Nothing gets me as excited as a huge change, an IN YOUR FACE moment, and when I cry "OKAY, BUT WHAT THE HELL NOW?! How will the author get out of this?! S/he's written him/herself into a corner!" I surely will pick up the next part.

Now whether I'll stick with the thing or not depends on how they handle the resolution.

A hate without love comes when there's a huge cliffhanger like above, and then the resolution is some easy, unsatisfying way. That's when I quit.

Cliffhanger: OH NO! HER SON GOT EATEN BY ALIENS?! WHAT DO WHAT DO WHAT DO!!! What will happen to her now?! That was so-so-so!!

Resolution: the alien spit him out, only a bit roughened up and covered in mucus.

Reaction: Rage quit.

I find it entirely appropriate that this thread has come back from the dead multiple times... perhaps it too suffered from a cliffhanger.

I hate the damn things. At novel endings, at chapter breaks, on TV. They don't make me want to read on; they make me want to whup the author upside the head with his own book.

A cliffhanger (oh no! will anyone survive?) is not the same as unfinished business. You can resolve the main story yet still have a thousand questions raised in the reader's mind... and when you do it well, they won't really notice until they see your next book on the shelf and think, "Oh! I wonder whatever happened after the wedding, or after the fire in the village, or..." and grab the book wanting to find out.

These things happen organically. If you try to force them, we the reader WILL notice, and we WILL hurt you... right in the pocketbook. It's no longer 1930, with so few choices of entertainment that we'll all gladly languish on tenterhooks until the next installment.

I just read a book with a horrific cliffhanger ending, and as I was coming to the end of the book and it was clear the story wasn't going to be resolved all I can think was "Oh you as*hole!" Fortunately I have the next book on hand, but if I'd had to wait two or three years I would've been absolutely livid. That said, I'd been on the fence about reading the sequel and the cliffhanger convinced me to go on, so I guess they work?

Personal opinion though, I think if you're writing a series of books, I feel that the first should have some sort of closure, and that cliffhangers in the 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) book is a little more accepting. I mean if they're reading book 2, 3 ect. then it's obvious you got them hooked. They'll probably read the sequel. (Unless you completely bunk up the sequels I guess?)

RightHoJeeves said:

I've always been under the impression that a cliffhanger can be used effectively to "introduce" the tension of the next story after the current story has been resolved. The point is you still need to have a satisifying ending for the story you're telling. Otherwise it's half a story.

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This. I don't mind teases toward ongoing conflict, but I hate when I pay for one book and I get half of one. Not everything must be knotted up neat at the end of a book, but if I have to read book 2 to get any sort of satisfactory resolution to most of book 1, then I'm unlikely to buy book 2, or buy anything by that author again.

Series like - Darn - I can't think of the first one but the sequels are Catching Fire and Mockingjay - anyway I don't mind a hint of a sequel, but don't like being forced to read one for closure. I use mini-teasers at the end of chapters, but readers can just turn the page to find out what happens. "Don't trick the readers" should be a writer's motto.

As long as the overall storyline for that book is resolved, I don't mind. If there are some loose ends, or it's open to interpretation, that's fine. If the author decides to just not finish the book, then I'd probably just go and read a summary online and not bother with the next one in case they did that again.

I'd rather have one really good book, with fantastic characters and worldbuilding, than a series which lets the first book down.

But I hate, hate, hate when the first book is built up, then dropped to make you buy the next one. It won't work on me. I can live without finding out if anyone lives or dies. My bookcases are filled with first books in series because I didn't care enough to buy the next one.

Sometimes, I just want one book.

I'll use cliffhangers at the ends of chapters, but I don't like them at the end of the book itself. I tolerate them if the next book is out already, but if I have to wait two years, I'm going to be angry.

I do like to leave some unresolved issues, though. But it's important to resolve the main plot in a satisfactory way.

I am torn when it comes to cliffhangers. On the one hand, I love it when they're well executed whether it is somewhere mid-story (such as a chapter cliffhanger) or at the end. On the other hand, I HATE it when the "Oh you smart little author!" feeling wears away and then I have to wait.

I think if it's a stand alone book, and it is meant to end on a cliffhanger, I'd be more okay with it than, say, if every book in a series ended on one. It would feel too much like a schtick then, and at that point I think I'd put the series down forever.