To Cliffhang, or Not to Cliffhang

[bashfullyshameless]

So I just finished the next chapter of my story. Unlike previous chapters, this one ends with a cliffhanger.

Haven't started the next one yet. That one is shaping up to be kind of brutal. That one probably won't end pretty, either. And then I'll have to do the climax.

So the question is...do I go ahead and post the one I've just gotten done, or save it 'til I've got the next two done as well and submit them all back to back so there isn't such a wait?

What would you guys do?

Decisions, decisions...

 

[JackLuis]

I ran a 40 chapter story and published as I finished each chapter. What I found is that it is hard to keep up the story as each chapter had to be more or less complete. Then If I decided that I should have put a clue in #27 to be explained in #29, I'd have to remove and replace.

It is OK to put "cliffhangers" in chapters, but wait until it is finished to post them. That way you can edit to make the story better and more coherent. JMHO.

 

[bashfullyshameless]

Hrm...that's actually a good point...

 

[oggbashan]

If you submit more than one chapter at once, the powers-that-be tend to post them, in order, on successive days.

Og

 

[michchick98]

I used to post chapters as I finished them, but then I found sometimes other things got in the way of writing and wasn't able to post the chapters as fast as I wanted. Now I wait until the story is complete before posting it and usually, I'll post a couple days apart, just to leave a little suspense in between if there is a cliffhanger. One of the more popular authors here once told me "leave 'em wanting more" and cliffhangers can be a good thing. Readers will want to find out what happens next, so they'll come back and read.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

Cliffhangers always worked well for Pearl White.

 

[oggbashan]

Cliffhangers always worked well for Pearl White.

And if they couldn't work out how the heroine could escape from the cliffhanger at the end of the last episode there was always the -




"with one bound she was free" scenario.

Og

 

[sr71plt]

Cliffhangers are pretty much called for serialized chapters. It's part of the traditional formula. (An author asked on the Feedback board a few days ago why her first chapter of a work didn't go over well. The biggest reason, I think, was that it had fizzle rather than a cliffhanger transition ending on it. And the larger story hadn't really even started yet.)

As far as whether to post chapters as they are written, I, for one, won't read such a serialization. I want fiction that isn't bloated and doesn't have blind alleys or exposed, unfinished (or irrelevant) threads/characters--and that I know is going to arrive at a conclusion and not just fizzle out because the author got bored and moved on to something else.

In the ages of Dumas and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, rolling serialization was popular and some (just a few) authors got good at delivering it. There's a good reason you don't see much of it today, though. Modern authors aren't that good at it and the reading public is into shorter works and instant gratification. But they are also more discerning in expecting the story to hold together and not have a lot of extraneous "stuff" dangling off it. They get their serialization kicks on TV now.

That said, there seems to be a market here for it--so, if you want to write rolling serialized chapters, this would be a good place to do it.

 

[bronzeage]

There are different kinds of cliff hangers. There can be the true cliff hanger where the time bomb is ticking or the water is rising, or whatever incremental hazard is at hand. We know the hero is going to escape, or the girl will be rescued. There is not really much suspense to the thing.

A better cliff hanger is a plot line which increase tension as the story progresses. It's much better to give the read a foreshadow of something impending. The reader can see plot lines begin to converge and wants to see how it ends.

The point about not posting until the plot line is solid is valid. An incredible plot twist may occur to you while writing chapter 13, but it doesn't make sense unless something was introduced in chapter 2.

"Luke, I am your father!"

Come on now. That's just not fair.

 

[Weird Harold]

So I just finished the next chapter of my story. Unlike previous chapters, this one ends with a cliffhanger.

Haven't started the next one yet. That one is shaping up to be kind of brutal. That one probably won't end pretty, either. And then I'll have to do the climax.

So the question is...do I go ahead and post the one I've just gotten done, or save it 'til I've got the next two done as well and submit them all back to back so there isn't such a wait?

What would you guys do?

Decisions, decisions...

If you've got an ongoing story with an established posting schedule, you should stick to the schedule or you'll lose readers.

If you haven't been posting to a regular schedule and/or haven't been rigorous about meeting the schedule, finish the problematic story arc and then post it; as Ogg noted, submitted as chapters on the same day will result in being posted on a daily schedule unless you specify some other interval in the comments section.

If you were working on chapters for an unposted story, I would recommend that each chapter or every other chapter, or some pattern that works for your particular story be converted to a cliff-hanger so that your readers are not blind-sided by one or two BIG cliff-hangers -- sudden BIG cliff-hangers in a story that hasn't shown a tendency to the suspenseful is annoying.

IMHO; they read like the writer ran out of time for posting that chapter instead of like a planned escalation of story/plot.

But, since you're working on story with an established posting pattern -- or lack thereof -- I think staying with your established posting pattern will lose you fewer readers than a cliffhanger will.

 

[Dual_Triode]

So I just finished the next chapter of my story. Unlike previous chapters, this one ends with a cliffhanger.

Haven't started the next one yet. That one is shaping up to be kind of brutal. That one probably won't end pretty, either. And then I'll have to do the climax.

So the question is...do I go ahead and post the one I've just gotten done, or save it 'til I've got the next two done as well and submit them all back to back so there isn't such a wait?

What would you guys do?

Decisions, decisions...

For the sake of coherency, I would wait until the series is finished. As has been pointed out, the plot line may twist in unexpected directions as you write the remaining chapters. If you hold onto them all until the end, you can fix any plot bombs you've inadvertently created. Then publish them on a schedule, one per week, for example.

Cliff hangers can be subtle, a simple phrase or facial expression, that hints that something remains to be revealed. Of course, a high-impact situation can also be employed should the story call for it. Plus, it's fun to write that way!

~Dual

 

[mynameisben]

I'll tel you exactly what I would do. And if I say so myself, it is absolutely the perfect solution to your problem. I can't tell you right now though.

So, stay tuned...