March 18, 2024
3 TYPES OF CLIFFHANGERS  TO END YOUR CHAPTER ON

3 TYPES OF CLIFFHANGERS TO END YOUR CHAPTER ON

Writing chapters are hard  especially when you are trying to figure out how to end  your chapters  properly.  For each  writer  the experience for ending your chapters are different but for me it’s  fun  because  I get to end them on cliffhangers . There  are many  types  of cliff hangers  but  I  want   to discuss my 3 favorites  types .

CLIFF HANGERS &  ACTION

When I  end a chapter  I end it on the action and leave it with a cliff hanger.

What is a cliffhanger ?

A  cliff  hanger  is the hook, the page  turner that will  get the  reader  reading the next scene  on and on until hopefully the end of the novel.   Like  I  have said in many of my other post  I like to experiment.  That  includes  with the end of the  chapters . So these   are the cliff hangers  I’ve   used so far.

man in blue shorts jumping in a body of water
Photo by j.mt_photography on Pexels.com

PERIL CUT

The peril cut cliffhanger  is  where you leave your character in peril at the end  of the chapter. I  do this a lot in my work in progress.

I  leave  the character and cut  the scene at the very instance and  I  may not come back to them  for another  chapter or 2 .  But when  I finally do   the situation they  are in  is even worse.  (spoiler) I use this cliff hanger  in  one of  the scenes with my  main character  Adrian.

shadow of crop arm in window frame on wall
Photo by Nothing Ahead on Pexels.com

BLACKOUT

The  blackout  cliffhanger is where the viewpoint  character  loses  consciousness. This cliffhanger  is a fun  cliffhanger to write.  I   use  the  black out in my  novel as well with the main  character  Sirena.

This   is when a character  faints  , or  knocked  out  or even killed.     This type of cliff  hanger leaves suspense for the reader.  You  don’t  know what has happened to the character.

When using the blackout    you got to  make sure that  when writing this cliff hanger that  you  jump  ahead of time when you  eventually   come back to the character .  Make   sure you come back to the character soon.  If the viewpoint character dies  have  another character in their  place.

brown hourglass on brown wooden table
Photo by Mike on Pexels.com

TICKING CLOCK

The  ticking clock cliffhanger is perhaps  my most favorite out  of the  three . It is when you  end the chapter on a  sense   of urgency. Where  the character   has to meet a deadline. I do this at the very beginning of my  novel with  the main character Cristan.  He has to get  a book to  my main character Sirena before  the storm arrives  in my novel.

If you liked this blog post and you want to  see more content involving my work in progress During the Blue Hour Follow , Like , share  . But first  LET’S START A DIALOGUE

WHAT TYPES OF CLIFF HANGERS DO YOU  END YOUR CHAPTERS ON?

 I  want to know so let me know in the comments  below.

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