The Cliff-Hanger Ending...Thoughts?

jmichaelfavreau · Sep 25, 2014

Hello everyone,

So I thought I was so close to publishing, but I can't stop editing. In that vein, I have been mulling over my ending.

So my story is a series of bad situations my main character escapes from with varying degrees of success. By the end, she reaches the goal she sets out to accomplish in the beginning, at great cost, but then...here is my problem. The book is book 1 of 2 and the way I have it now, she reaches her goal, thinks she safe, and then boom, bad thing happens and book promptly ends...to be concluded in book 2.

Is this cheesy/lame/over-done? Leaving my readers with a cliff-hanger at the end of book 1 and concluding the story in book 2 seems like it fits. However, if no cliff-hanger, how do I end this book without wrapping up the story line completely and thus eliminating book 2?

PS - I can't combine them into one as it would be a very long book.

PPS - I posted here instead of Sy-Fi as my book is more horror then sy-fi/fantasy

Marlys · Sep 25, 2014

Well, if she reaches her goal and thinks she's safe, couldn't you leave her there, with perhaps just a hint that more trouble might come?

Something like, just off the top of my head (and obviously without knowing your particulars):

"You did it! He's gone for good."

"Yeah." She took a deep breath. "Gone for good." Still...that crow feather. Had it been blue or black? Blue or black?

"Come on--let's go celebrate."

Of course it had been black. Anything else was just her psyche refusing to believe the long ordeal was over. She shook off her doubts and smiled brightly. "You bet. I'm buying."

Then leave the boom! for a rip-roaring start to the second book.

nealraisman · Sep 25, 2014

I always hate the cliff hanger ending. I feel as if i have been cheated. Shouldn't each of the two books be a complete work unto itself with a resolution of some sort at the end? If the first book is a satisfying read then people will want to get into the second books too.

asroc · Sep 25, 2014

Unless a book is clearly marked as part of a series I expect the story to have a proper resolution. (And I prefer series installments to mostly stand alone, too.) If a book suddenly springs a cliffhanger on me I'd probably be annoyed and less likely to get the second book.

neicolec · Sep 25, 2014

As long as you resolve the main plot of this book, I think that's fine. Look at Blake Crouch's Pines series. It does exactly that. The Mortal Instruments series does that. A lot of thriller series solve the main problem but open a new one at the end of the book, enticing readers to the next book. Seems pretty common.

jeseymour · Sep 25, 2014

I do not like cliff hangers. I prefer each book in a series to stand alone. But I don't read horror or sci-fi or fantasy, so I can't say what's acceptable in those genres.

jmichaelfavreau · Sep 29, 2014

neicolec said:
As long as you resolve the main plot of this book, I think that's fine. Look at Blake Crouch's Pines series. It does exactly that. The Mortal Instruments series does that. A lot of thriller series solve the main problem but open a new one at the end of the book, enticing readers to the next book. Seems pretty common.

Thanks for all the responses, it seems like mostly people don't like cliff-hangers, but neicolec, you make a good point too.

So in book 1, all the immediate dangers are resolved (escape from infected ie zombie like people who are all over the place to a location that is a safe-haven), she gets to the place she wanted to get to. This is the last paragraph (out of context I know):

"Looking over to Adeline and Aaron, Rose could see they were holding hands and smiling at her, basking in the same peaceful glow. Rose wanted nothing more then to prolong that moment forever, but it wasn't to be. The scream of an infected female, shrill and piercing in the distance, turned Rose’s head immediately."

So the main plot of book 1 is resolved and the last paragraph is a direct lead-in to book 2 which will center around the defense of said sanctuary and then the journey back to her home where book 1 started.

Thoughts?

Jhaewyrmend · Sep 29, 2014

If the book is clearly a 2 or 3 parter, then resolve the first books issue and give a whopper of a cliffhanger. If your fans are loyal and liked the 1st book, they will be clawing for the next.

If the book is not a series, then obviously don't give a cliff-hanger.

I think what you have is fine as long as people know going in that this is a series.

gdossetto · Sep 30, 2014

I like cliffhangers in thrillers. Leave the nicely tied bows for any other genre.

rsrdiall · Sep 30, 2014

For purposes of leading to the next book, I actually think you could do without the last sentence. It's a little less of a cliffhanger that way but still one. To me it's more that your last sentence sounds like a great opening one for the next book.

Fizgig · Oct 1, 2014

I don't mind at all when there are threads left untied. In fact, I love when there are complete story arcs and larger, clearly ongoing mysteries that I assume the series will explore.

That said, I hate genuine cliff hangers -- with the MC in immediate peril. In fact, I remember reading a book where the MC achieves her goal of the first book, and then is kidnapped and left in a horrific situation. I threw the book across the room and refused to read the next one because I didn't trust the author to take care of the character I cared about...which is probably just me.

However, an ending with clear storm clouds on the horizon will excite me about the next book.

jmichaelfavreau · Oct 1, 2014

Fizgig said:
However, an ending with clear storm clouds on the horizon will excite me about the next book.

That is exactly what I'm going for. If you read the book, you'll see that while really really bad, the cliffhanger is by no means a "kidnapping" type cliffhanger and more of an indication there are "storm clouds on the horizon." I will be making it very clear this is Book 1 of 2 right from the start and hopefully that last paragraph will excite the reader about book 2.

Dave Williams · Oct 1, 2014

jmichaelfavreau said:
The book is book 1 of 2 and the way I have it now, she reaches her goal, thinks she safe, and then boom, bad thing happens and book promptly ends...to be concluded in book 2.

From the reader side... if it weren't for the fact that the book belonged to the library or had some trade-in value, I'd be tempted to rip it in half and throw it in the trash.

In my opinion, it's a sleazy tactic that ran its course in the day of pulp magazines with lurid covers; it not only guarantees I won't read the sequel, the author would go on my blacklist.

jmichaelfavreau · Oct 2, 2014

Dave Williams said:
From the reader side... if it weren't for the fact that the book belonged to the library or had some trade-in value, I'd be tempted to rip it in half and throw it in the trash.

In my opinion, it's a sleazy tactic that ran its course in the day of pulp magazines with lurid covers; it not only guarantees I won't read the sequel, the author would go on my blacklist.

So you would prefer no cliff-hanger lead-in to the next book despite the fact that you know there is a second book and, while the first half goals are accomplished, there are still another set of goals to accomplish in book two before the story is told?

Galumph_Triumph · Oct 2, 2014

Cliffhangers can be done with a grace and style that will make me buy the second book. They can also be done horribly.

Here is my suggestion: Ensure that all of the subplots and most of the main problems are resolved by the end, and introduce a semi-related cliffhanger at the end. Example: The detective catches the primary antagonist, saves her marriage, and makes it to her daughter's presentation on time. However, a copycat killer springs up somewhere near the end, or in catching the old antagonist, she enrages the mafia or something.

An example of a bad cliffhanger is this: The detective never catches the primary antagonist, and the reader is essentially left with revenge blue balls. Unless the book is clearly marked as a series, this is a great way to piss off your readers.

Rina Evans · Oct 2, 2014

jmichaelfavreau said:
So you would prefer no cliff-hanger lead-in to the next book despite the fact that you know there is a second book and, while the first half goals are accomplished, there are still another set of goals to accomplish in book two before the story is told?

For me, yes. That way I can leave satisfied if I want to and the book isn't forcing me to read the next installment. That's away to make me not read the next installment.

jmichaelfavreau · Oct 3, 2014

So the point of the last line I posted above is to tease you with action that might be happening in the next book of the series (it is clearly labeled as a series). The point of book one is to escape the zombie-like danger and book two is about the journey back after some times has passed. The above cliff-hanger is more to tease you to the next book while reminding you there is still this ever-present zombie-like danger that will always be in the background lingering.

That being said, do you think I need a cliff-hanger or is just reaching "safety" more what people are looking for?

kobold · Oct 3, 2014

Don't worry about what people are 'looking for'. Write what makes the most sense and is most satisfying to you, the author.

My first novel ends in a cliffhanger. I didn't intend it that way; it just was the right way to close the story, which (ironically, sure) was by leaving it a little bit open. You're not going to hurt anyone.

Galumph_Triumph · Oct 3, 2014

Just make sure your reader gets some kind of satisfaction before the cliffhanger.

Wilde_at_heart · Oct 4, 2014

imo, resolve the original story problem and if you want a cliffhanger, put the MC or what have you in a new dilemma.

I almost ended one WIP where the man rescues his fiance, with her clasping a syringe behind her back and about to poison him ...

ColdWintersNight · Oct 4, 2014

I'm thinking that I will wrap up my book with a solid ending. BUT make it so that if I ever wanted to do a squeal I could pick up where I stared. It would suck to have a cliffhanger in a book nobody cares about.

Btw, Galumph_Triumph, I'm going to buy your book cause it has a cool cover. I judge books by them all the time. Yours looks awesome.

Samsonet · Oct 5, 2014

My problem with cliffhanger endings is more because they can read like diabolus ex machina and that's kind of annoying. If I read that paragraph at the end of the book, I'd think maybe my copy was misprinted and I was missing the last few pages. It just doesn't read like an actual ending, if that makes sense.

I could understand a sentence that lets the reader know the sanctuary isn't as safe as the protag thought it was, but starting tbe next adventure at the end of the last paragraph is like starting a new sentence without a period, if it flows naturally people might not notice, but if they were looking for a place to breathe they're not going to get it. If that makes sense.

The Cliff-Hanger Ending...Thoughts?

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The Cliff-Hanger Ending...Thoughts?

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