Okay, I am in the middle of writing my novel's climax (totaling around 10,000 words), and is broken up into several chapters. I've realized the next chapter I am about to write requires the chapter break to be in a different place for pacing, which means a different cliffhanger than the one I intended. The chapter will end with the antagonist being shot at by the antagonist (which is at a point where I need to up the stakes), but I really hate it in a book where a chapter ends with 'a shot rang out.' When ever I see this I cringe because it's a cheap trick and it makes me cringe (and I don't think it particularly works well).
Any pointers on how I could freshen up such an old (and manipulative) cliche?
Any pointers on how I could freshen up such an old (and manipulative) cliche?