Cliffhangers

Will Collins

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Cliffhangers are palatable if the books are in a series, and the cliffhanger isn't the ending to the very first book. It also helps if the next book is already out so your readers don't get frustrated. Cough, GRRM.
 

Odile_Blud

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I think there needs to be a reason for it. It should play into your theme.

There was an episode of Without A Trace where a poor black boy went missing and a rich white girl went missing. No one did much for the black boy, but the white girl had news coverage, ads, and everything. At the end of the episode, the investigator says, "We found one." And the episode ended there. They never told us which was found, but, by how the episode was presented, you could already make an assumption of who it was, and it played well into the episode's theme.

Just having a cliff hanger like that for no reason but just to have a cliffhanger probably wouldn't work so well, but if there is a reason behind it. If you are trying to challenge your audience, get them to think, and them draw a conclusion based on what they read, it probably works.
 

gothicangel

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It would piss me off. I would rather see the villian (who I knew was guilty) be found not guilty, than have no verdict at all. Sounds like a gimmick to me.
 

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As a reader, I'd consider it a let down. It's not an ambiguous or open ending. It's not even an ending at all. There's a difference between that and where the main character looks to be in an impossible situation or a new adventure is unfolding before them. What you suggested is more like an abrupt stop right before the real ending.
 

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For a more specific example – Say the novel alternates between the suspect’s narration of events and the court trial. Some side concerns about police corruption, crazy but harmless character physiological state, and lots of circumstantial evidence. There are very convincing arguments that the suspect is the murderer, and a side that it is just as convincing that they could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. The novel ends with the judge asking the jury for their verdict.

Thoughts?

It depends on the central arc of the story. If the narrative tension of the story was built around the progression of the trial, I would expect it to resolve the question.

However, if the trial was the backdrop for another story entirely, the resolution of the trial may not be necessary to bring the real story to a close. Depending on the structure of the story, the lack of resolution may even be the point, if the story involves a character coming to terms with the irrelevance of the question of guilt, for example. I can imagine numerous variations where a character's story may intersect with the trial but not depend on the outcome of the trial for its own climax.
 

Bufty

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Why do you want folk to read your story?

If you don't provide a satisfactory conclusion the reader won't be interested in buying your next story.

Why create unnecessary hurdles?

Either your character is guilty or he isn't, and if he's guilty I want to see him caught and punished. If he's innocent, I want to see the real guilty party caught.

Is the story so weak that you have to leave it up to the reader to finish it?
 

mccardey

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I would say it all depends on how well it's done. But I always say that.
 

Ambrosia

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Just wanted to get some thoughts about ending a novel with a cliffhanger, specifically, a cliffhanger in a physiological thriller?

Could you explain "physiological thriller"? What is it? Does the type of thriller change the cliffhanger question? I don't normally read thrillers, but from the genres I do read (romance, fantasy, sci-fi), I have an opinion on cliffhangers.

I’ve always enjoyed open ended ideas that are left up to the reader’s interpretation, but I also know that cliffhangers can be annoying and a huge turnoff. How do you feel about cliffhangers? What makes a cliffhanger good or bad?
I don't believe open-ended ideas and cliffhangers equate. You can have a story without a cliffhanger ending and have questions left at the end that the reader has to fill in for themselves. A cliffhanger is entirely different, in my mind. It leaves the reader unsatisfied and wanting the next bit of information that is just not there. The only time I am alright with a cliffhanger is if it is a book in a series and I have the second book in my hands to pick up the story again. If I have to wait any length of time for the next book, that author gets a black mark on my tally sheet that may never go away. I have stopped reading an author's work over this issue. And, on rare occasion because the writing was so good, I have waited until the entire series was finished to buy and read the books without interruption. The good news for me was the next book was written. And the series eventually finished.

For a more specific example – Say the novel alternates between the suspect’s narration of events and the court trial. Some side concerns about police corruption, crazy but harmless character physiological state, and lots of circumstantial evidence. There are very convincing arguments that the suspect is the murderer, and a side that it is just as convincing that they could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. The novel ends with the judge asking the jury for their verdict.

Thoughts?
[bolding mine]
Just, no. I can't see myself not being infuriated by investing myself in the narrator's story and life, becoming caught up and identifying with him, only to not know what happens in the end. That would be a black mark that would likely never go away. Why would you want to limit sales of future books?
 

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It's bold to consider ending a book with a Cliffhanger. Especially if it's stand-a-lone. However, decisions about your book must not exist at random. There must be a purpose. Especially with this kind of decision. It's up to you. It's your story. You're the only one who can tell it. If you don't mind reading a stand-a-lone book with a cliffhanger, go for it.
 

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Let me ask this, take it in a little different direction.

Let's say you've got the first book of a planned series that ends without resolving a lot of plot points in the meta-narrative (A LOT more questions given than answered). But with that said, the micro-narrative of that one book is resolved. The story of Book 1 has a beginning, middle, and end, and doesn't feel like a cliffhanger persay, as there's a conclusion to the story in that book, but the bigger picture that spans throughout the series isn't answered in any way.

I hope that makes sense.

Let me put it an easier way, because I feel that's confusing.

Guy sends kids to another planet. They have to survive seven planets to get back home (obviously this is incredibly general). First book tells the story of them surviving planet one, but doesn't give any resolution to the bigger story. Is that a cliffhanger that would frustrate you or since there is resolution of surviving planet one, would it be okay?
 

Mary Mitchell

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I agree with fallen. You may not know whether the trial lawyer's wife forgives him for the affair with the secretary, or whether the assistant DA is going to run for governor, because the characters may still be debating this when the jury hands down its verdict. As Indianroads indicated, you want to feel that the characters' lives go on--that every little thing didn't wrap up for everybody in the same hour of the same day. But the main plot of the book needs to have some closure.

That being said, you could get the jury verdict but still not know if you're sure the guy was really guilty or innocent. Or the jury could vote not guilty, and while you're breathing a sigh of relief the suspect does something that makes you go, "Whoah! Was he actually guilty after all?" But the main story arc needs to have a conclusion.
 

neandermagnon

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Let me ask this, take it in a little different direction.

Let's say you've got the first book of a planned series that ends without resolving a lot of plot points in the meta-narrative (A LOT more questions given than answered). But with that said, the micro-narrative of that one book is resolved. The story of Book 1 has a beginning, middle, and end, and doesn't feel like a cliffhanger persay, as there's a conclusion to the story in that book, but the bigger picture that spans throughout the series isn't answered in any way.

I hope that makes sense.

Let me put it an easier way, because I feel that's confusing.

Guy sends kids to another planet. They have to survive seven planets to get back home (obviously this is incredibly general). First book tells the story of them surviving planet one, but doesn't give any resolution to the bigger story. Is that a cliffhanger that would frustrate you or since there is resolution of surviving planet one, would it be okay?

It wouldn't frustrate me if I know it's book one of a series. JK Rowling did something like this in Harry Potter and I've read other series with a similar kind of thing going on. What's interesting about Harry Potter is that after book one, it doesn't feel like there's very much in terms of unresolved plot. There's hints about Voldemort's return and you know that Harry's looking forward to his next year at Hogwarts. That's about it. As you go through the series, the overall story arc gets more complex as you learn more about the world, so in later books, there are more loose ends between each book. I don't recall any of them ending on a cliffhanger though. For me there's a big difference between a cliffhanger ending and a series that has a story arc for the whole series which isn't resolved until the last book in the series.

If the loose ends after book one is the fact they know they have to survive on six more planets and the bad person/alien/whatever that's making them do that is still out there, but their story of how they survived planet one is resolved, that is not what I'd call a cliffhanger at all. As long as it's clear from the blurb etc on book one that it's book one of a series, I'll probably figure out for myself that it's going to be a one book per planet format or something and expect that.

A cliffhanger ending would be for example: the kids have done well so far surviving on planet one, but then they meet some horrible alien monster, worse than anything they've faced so far and... dun duh daaaaah! Tune in next week folks to see if the kids are going to make it or die a horrible death! (i.e. you have to buy the next book to find out if they manage to survive the first planet.)
 

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I just went through eight books of a fantasy/sci-fi serial, each ending on a cliffhanger. Enjoyed myself immensely. Now I'm waiting for the ninth to come out.

Also, Big Bang Theory just ended on a cliffhanger, and I have to wait until the autumn to see what happens. Also fine with that.
 

indianroads

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Then of course there's Game of Thrones...

Pretty much every modern day TV series ends the season with a cliff hanger. I'm uncertain where there is a !:! correlation between television and novels. If anything I would think movies in the cinema are a closer match to novels. Look at the Star Wars series of movies, only one (that I can think of) really left things hanging.
 
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WeaselFire

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JI’ve always enjoyed open ended ideas that are left up to the reader’s interpretation, but I also know that cliffhangers can be annoying and a huge turnoff. How do you feel about cliffhangers?

What you describe is not a cliffhanger. Bladerunner - Is Decker a replicant? Maybe, maybe not, but not a cliffhanger. Your example is similar. As long as the conflict is satisfyingly resolved for the reader, it's a good story. If you book is about getting the subject to trial, then the outcome is not needed. If your story is about the case, then an outcome is needed.

By the way, when a book ends on a true cliffhanger, a story that is meant to be resolved in the next novel, I give that book a poor rating on every site I can find and warn people that it's a scam to get them to buy the second book.

Jeff
 

Devil Ledbetter

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What you describe is not a cliffhanger. Bladerunner - Is Decker a replicant? Maybe, maybe not, but not a cliffhanger.
I agree. There may be a better term for it, but I would call that a story question.

By the way, when a book ends on a true cliffhanger, a story that is meant to be resolved in the next novel, I give that book a poor rating on every site I can find and warn people that it's a scam to get them to buy the second book.
I agree with you here, too. A novel should have a satisfying resolution even if it's in a series. Book #1 in a series should layout the overarching series conflict but focus on a related sub-conflict all its own. It should wrap up that sub-conflict in a satisfactory manner while possibly setting up conflict for the next novel to resolve. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone sets up the Harry Potter series' overarching conflict (good magic folk v. evil Voldemort and his posse) but it's mainly concerned with the mystery surrounding the Sorcerer's Stone and resolves with [SPOILER ALERT] Harry having obtained the stone thereby temporarily thwarting Voldemort. The conflict with Voldemort then carries into the second book in the series, and so on.
 

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As a reader, that would annoy me enough to affect the book's review and I probably would never read anything by you again. Cliffhangers are great in the middle of a book. But the book (or whatever you are packaging as a book, even if it's part of a longer series) needs to end in such a way that the reader feels a sense of completeness and that there was a point to reading, even if you do leave some questions open ended to be delved into in a sequel, or considered up to the reader.

(spoiler)

Think of the Hunger Games. At the end of the first novel, it's still up in the air if Katniss is really going to be "safe" from the Capitol, the relationship with Peeta is on shaky ground, but that's very different from stopping the novel at the point where they're on top of the Cornucopia, about to be eaten by wolves in the arena, and leaving it up to the reader to decide if they both die, if one of them wins the games, or if both somehow get out alive. One ends in a satisfying way but with a tease that makes you want to keep reading. The other makes you think you wasted your money and makes you very angry at the author.
 
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Devil Ledbetter

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Then of course there's Game of Thrones...

Pretty much every modern day TV series ends the season with a cliff hanger. I'm uncertain where there is a !:! correlation between television and novels. If anything I would think movies in the cinema are a closer match to novels. Look at the Star Wars series of movies, only one (that I can think of) really left things hanging.
The fundamental difference seems to be "ending with a cliffhanger" v. "ending without resolving the plot." If a writer resolves the plot issue that was the main focus on the book, but ends with a cliffhanger on a new issue that arises in the 11th hour, that's entirely different from cliffhanging the plot at the end.

Game of Thrones resolves several issues in each part of the series, and sets up more things which aren't resolved until the next part. I think that's just the way to do a gripping series.
 

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End of chapter, yes. End of book, no. We need some form of closure, even if the book is part of a series. As the previous poster mentions, resolving the plot in general, but ending with a cliffhanger of sorts may actually make us want to read more. Like waiting for the next Game of Thrones episode. Which is fine, specially for a series. But also remember, a forty minute tv episode can be forgiven for not resolving everything. A 300+ page book with an unresolved plot will just leave us frustrated.
 

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Completely agree with the majority of opinions here. We definitely need closure and resolution at the end of a book. I tend to do cliffhangers chapter-by-chapter (where relevant; it would be annoying if every chapter ended with a cliffhanger). If you want to do a sort of end-of-book cliffhanger -- I wouldn't really call it a cliffhanger -- it would have to be a series. Think of The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. Each book ends with a single sentence of what the next book in the series will be about. These sentences are pithy, and damn effective, and really awesome at alluding to the next book in the series. If you haven't read them, highly recommend (though they are YA Fantasy, since I write in that genre).
 

Mary Mitchell

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TV series episodes are like chapters. With the season finale you simply have to wait longer to see the next chapter. But can you imagine a series finale ending with a cliffhanger? A series finale is like the end of a book. If there's going to be a spin-off series after the original series ends, then the parts of the series finale that relate to the upcoming spin-off will end with a cliffhanger. But the original series story arc ends.
 

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I like cliffhangers only if it is in a series and those unanswered questions will be answered then. If not, I would be annoyed and probably wouldn't invest time and money into any other of that author's novels.
 

Mary Mitchell

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Let me ask this, take it in a little different direction.

Let's say you've got the first book of a planned series that ends without resolving a lot of plot points in the meta-narrative (A LOT more questions given than answered). But with that said, the micro-narrative of that one book is resolved. The story of Book 1 has a beginning, middle, and end, and doesn't feel like a cliffhanger persay, as there's a conclusion to the story in that book, but the bigger picture that spans throughout the series isn't answered in any way.

I hope that makes sense.

Let me put it an easier way, because I feel that's confusing.

Guy sends kids to another planet. They have to survive seven planets to get back home (obviously this is incredibly general). First book tells the story of them surviving planet one, but doesn't give any resolution to the bigger story. Is that a cliffhanger that would frustrate you or since there is resolution of surviving planet one, would it be okay?

I think that would be okay.