Question: Do you write cliffhangers at the end of your stories? Are they a turn-off to you as a writer and/or a reader?
Let’s talk about cliffhangers, or rather what is meant by them. To me there are two different type of cliffhangers that end books. There are books that feel like the author lost the last half of the story because it cuts off mid-scene, and there are cliffhangers that wrap up the events of the book (or television season) more or less but then either introduce new action or hint at something to come. The first are gimmicks, and you can’t convince me otherwise. The second, well that’s just satisfying, smart writing.
Cliffhangers like the first type are a big turn off to me and I’ve only used them as a writer in only a few, very specific cases. I used to read these types of cliffhangers a lot in what is now called “why choose” but previously was called reverse harem stories back in the 2020s or a bit earlier, and all the big marketing gurus, the ones who charged you $497 for their course du jour were preaching that was the way to win readers. But even then a lot of readers hated them. I feel like those cliffhangers were really in style when people were first preaching about books like netflix binging, where people wanted to sit down and read everything through. These days, most of the shows we watch (sf/fantasy on Prime or Paramount+) drop an episode a week just like “good old days” that were supposedly long gone by then.
So let’s talk about the second type of cliffhangers, which really aren’t. When the bad guy is caught and the work of the book or episode is done, then new intrigue/danger/etc is introduced within the last few pages to get you to buy the next book or watch the next season. That’s how series or trilogies are often constructed, and hey, it works. I’ve been reading books like that well since I’ve been reading anything other than Harlequin Romances or stand-alone YA books, so a very, very long time.
I’m reminded of the end of season 6 of Buffy (pause, spoiler alert if you haven’t seen it) where Xander talks Willow down from saving the world. Pretty heavy stuff, and so powerfully done. The yellow crayon. “I love broken crayon Willow.” That’s probably the moment that broke her, because it sure as heck broke the audience. She gives into her grief, the world is saved. Then, we see the cave where Spike is talking to a presumed Demon and…gets his soul back? Then the episode is over and we had to wait to see what would happen. Let’s be honest, most of us would have come back even if they’d closed the episode with Willow crying in Xander’s arms and everyone realizing they’re going to live, but that little bit of Spike at the end? That’s what had us turning into season 7.
That’s how a “cliffhanger” is supposed to work. It isn’t supposed to read like the author just decided not to write the rest of the book or the computer lost the file because Mercury was retrograde. But provide that satisfying wrap-up that readers want before you yank their chains (or twist the knife, depending on the genre) just a little bit more.
