by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Every time I read a great post on cliffhangers, I feel a little sorry that I don’t write too many of them. It can make for a thrilling chapter ending, if the device isn’t overused.
I don’t actually spend very much time thinking about my chapter breaks. I write the books straight through with no chapter breaks at all, then insert the breaks before I hand the book over to my editor.
My chapter breaks were inserted fairly haphazardly until a couple of readers mentioned them….one in a review and one in an email. These folks wanted shorter chapters to accommodate their busy schedules and short amount of reading time.
Most of my chapters averaged 18 pages at the time that I got that reader feedback. Not really feeling very strongly about chapter breaks one way or the other, I decided to accommodate the readers and write shorter chapters…I started inserting chapter breaks about every 10-12 pages. I found that it did affect the pace of my books—it made the books read a bit faster….which is nice, for my genre.
What I generally do is look for a spot where there’s a good place for a break. Occasionally, there’s a spot that’s perfect for a break because there’ll be a dead body discovered. :) In that case, I rework the chapter breaks around that one to fit it in.
One thing that I try not to do is to close a chapter at the point when my character turns in for the night. I’d heard this wasn’t good because the reader would put the book down for the night, too. So I’ll usually just put a scene break, not a chapter break, there.
Some areas make great spots to put chapter breaks in. Every 10-12 pages, I look for interesting bits of dialogue (maybe the sleuth asks a suspect a leading question), someone making an announcement of some sort, a strong scene ending, a question the protagonist has posed or worried over, a moment of tension…and, sure, the typical cliffhanger moment: the moment the protagonist realizes someone is breaking into her house, the discovery of the dead body, the moment the killer confronts the sleuth…you know.
As a reader…yes, sometimes I do enjoy a good cliffhanger of a chapter ending. If it’s used at the end of every chapter, then I feel like it’s totally contrived. But sure—I love that moment where I decide that I just have to read the next chapter.
And I ran across a nice post on cliffhangers on the Moody Writing blog by Mooderino: Cliffhangers For Unscrupulous Writers. :) It lists eleven types of cliffhangers to use.
Do you use cliffhangers often? How long are your chapters or do they vary a lot in length? Where are your favorite spots to insert chapter breaks?
I use cliff-hangers sparingly, but chapter breaks are important to me – both as a reader and a writer. I want my reader – and the book I’m reading – to have a natural break, for nature calls and other life necessities, but to want to get back to the book and keep reading without having to go back and re-read the las few paragraphs or pages. The first lines of the next chapter should make everything fall into place, whether it has been a few minutes or a few days since last reading.
…..dhole
Elizabeth – Interesting question about chapter breaks and cliffhangers! I don’t really use cliffhangers very much. But I do like to end chapters on an interesting note so readers want to move on to the next one. So for instance I might end a chapter with an important revelation. But mostly I try to end my chapters the way you do, when there’s a natural break between things that happen in the story. As to chapter length? Mine are usually 10-15 pages long and that seems to work.
Donna–That’s a very sound way of looking at it. And you know…after I write in my breaks, sometimes I *will* go in an adjust the transition for the same reasons you’re mentioning. I didn’t remember to include that here. Because you’re right–we don’t want the reader trying to remember where they left off or to try to figure out what’s going on.
One thing to remember about cliffhangers: they don’t have to be exciting, and yes, they can even involve the character turning in for the night.
The thing about a great chapter ending is that it’s a promise fulfilled as well as a promise made: that is, your promise of great things-to-come partly comes from the fact that you paid off well on the previous chapter.
The other thing is… people look ahead. We often glance at the opening of the next chapter before we put the book away. So a good chapter title or first sentence can be as good as any cliffhanger.
I’d be interested to know what’s your word count for 18 pages, or 10 – 12 pages. Presumably, you’re talking about published book. My WIP is likely to be a very different word count per page, since it’s in Word and double-spaced. And although I am thinking about chapter endings and occasional cliff-hangers it would be useful to know where ideally to put them by word count.
Margot–I do like that 10-15 page chapter, now that I’ve gotten used to it. I think it works well for mysteries.
The Daring Novelist–For me, it’s all an exercise in persuasion…can I get the reader to keep reading? Can I make them care whodunit or make them want to find out more about these characters I’ve created? So the whole book has got to be, if not wholeheartedly exciting, at least leading the reader on (and obviously, delivering, in the end.)
Hmm…I hadn’t thought of it that way. Good point…promise fulfilled. And a good point about the beginning of the next chapter–is it interesting? Does it make readers want to read on? Or does it open at a confusing or quiet spot in the story, causing readers to put the book down?
Namecheck! Thanks for the mention.
I find too many cliffhangers makes me feel the writer’s overdoing it, but the blockbusters all do it relentlessly. Some people muxt love them, the more the merrier.
mood
Moody Writing
Hey, that’s how I do chapters as well! Although my last manuscript I even sent it without breaks to my publisher. I try to end the chapter where the scene ends, so not many cliffhangers for me.
Claire–Absolutely. No, this is for my Word doc, double-spaced, Times font…if we figure about 250 words on a page (which mine rarely are, since I have a lot of dialogue…but still have to figure in for the white space on the page), then 2500 words every 10 page chapter. Hope that helps!
Alex–Ha! Haven’t done that for the publisher before, but did it for my agent, who was aghast. Just totally forgot to put them in…
Mood–Well, a great post! There’s a lot to learn from the best sellers, after all (at least for those of us who admit to some commercial intent–which I do).
I don’t deliberately use chapter ending cliffhangers but I do try to end with a line that will keep the reader’s interest. I also try to keep chapters to 10-12 pages.
The one place I do NOT enjoy cliffhangers is at the end of a book in the series, making me wait until the next one comes out. Some authors will wrap up the main plot and leave a subplot hanging. I understand the marketing ploy but it’s just annoying.
I’ve always tried to have what I think you’re calling cliff-hangers at the end of my chapters, which are usually around 3,000 words. But I’m not sure we are defining cliff-hangers the same way. I think the object is to have the reader turn the page because they want to know what happens next. That should happen with every page, shouldn’t it? But at the end of the chapter, I think it has to be more dramatic, or have higher stakes or ask an intriguing question. Are those all cliff-hangers? I’m not sure, but I do believe the end of each chapter needs special attention. I am amazed at your not putting in chapter breaks as you go. Probably because I’ve been in a lot of critique groups, and usually you submit either a short story or a chapter. Great post! Made me think more about this subject, usually a good thing.
I like shorter chapters. It’s my attention span, I think. I also love cliffhangers and ANY suspense thrown my way.
Thanks, Elizabeth, for your thoughts on this.
T
I find it interesting that you don’t insert your chapter breaks until later in your process. I’m the opposite: Often I write my chapter breaks before the chapter is even completed! My chapters tend to be “James Patterson” short, but already I see my chapters getting a bit longer for my second book. Perhaps experience will lengthen them. :) Great post!
LD –Another short chapter writer! They do seem to work out well, don’t they?
Oh, those are unfair, aren’t they? If it were a serial and the next installment was coming out in a couple of weeks…okay. But traditional publishing takes so long that it’s not fair of the author to have a cliffhanger at the end of a book. Just makes readers mad.
Jan–I think traditional cliffhangers are sort of like the endings we’d see in those old evening soaps (“Dynasty” and “Dallas” come to mind) where it was a “who shot JR” moment or a “whose baby is it”–something like that. I think ending a chapter at an intriguing point in the story makes good sense–and won’t make the reader feel like he’s being used.
As far as the not putting in chapter breaks during a draft…it just tends to make me put on my formatting/editing/left brain hat while I’m being creative, which–for me–is really counterproductive. Anything that makes me critically look at my manuscript while I’m drafting it tends to make me anxious about the book and slows me down. So…I just avoid doing it until draft 2. :)
Teresa–You know, I have a short attention span, too. I appreciate short chapters, myself, but it’s funny that I never applied that to my own writing!
Dina–So, for you, the chapter breaks are almost helping you to outline/plan the rest of your chapter. Interesting!
James Patterson does come to mind when talking about short chapters. :) I almost mentioned him in my post!
My mother is my beta reader and more than once I’ve sent her a manuscript with no chapters in it. Actually, the last couple of books I gave her didn’t have an ending, either! I figured I’d write the end by the time she’d read up to that point…ha! (One can only get away with this with one’s mother…) :)
I’m funny in that I try to make the chapters all the same size or at least close. So I tend to write my scenes to achieve that goal.
Diane–I’ve gotten that way, too, but I do it all on the back end instead of the front end (arranging chapter length after the book is done.)
I’m actually more like Dina, with chapter breaks often being a part of my planning process.
However, I also let the type of story determine the scene and chapter breaks. I have two novels (one about to be released) with no chapter breaks. There are scene breaks, and section breaks are marked with the year and location—but I even have a short story with five divisions like that.
I write fantasy, though, rather than whodunit, so the expectations there are a bit different. :)
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