I can't believe I almost forgot to post today! I meant to write this earlier this week, but I was busy with holiday prep. (I do have my laptop back, BTW.) Anyway, welcome to the last post for The Insecure Writer's Support Group for 2024. Learn more about them on their website or Facebook page.
Here's our question for the month: Do you write cliffhangers at the end of your stories? Are they a turn-off to you as a writer and/or a reader?
Cliffhangers are great for chapter endings, but not story endings. It's perfectly reasonable for a reader to expect the story questions to be answered by the end of the story. The possible exception might be for a series. The overall story line won't be complete until the final book. That said, each tale in a series has to stand on its own. In my Season Avatars series, each book is told through a different point of view. Although the Avatars experienced a dramatic reversal of fortune in the penultimate book, Fifth Season, Ysabel finished her part of the story before handing it over to Kay in Summon the Seasons.
How do you feel about cliffhangers? Feel free to share in the comments.
4 comments:
Cliffhangers are good for chapters, not good for stories.
Yes, cliffhangers are good for chapter endings. I don't mind them in fantasy series too.
I agree that cliffhangers are okay for chapters (I hadn't even thought about that until you mentioned it!). I'm also okay with cliffhangers in books within a series as long as the cliffhanger is a subplot in the book and so doesn't leave the main plot to the book hanging. In other words, I'm okay with a cliffhanger as long as the book can stand on its own as its own work.
I'm glad you got your laptop back.
I prefer books that don't end on a cliffhanger.
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