What Makes A Good Book-Ending Cliffhanger?
Ever read a book that ends on a really bad cliffhanger? Do you even like books that end on a cliffhanger? Some readers say they love them, some readers say they hate them. I fall somewhere in the middle... I am not opposed to a cliffhanger, but ONLY if it’s done right. When done right, a cliffhanger is a great tool to leave readers on edge and excited for what comes next. When done wrong, readers can be left frustrated, annoyed, and even angry. Which begs the question, how do you know if a cliffhanger has been done right? I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the cliffhangers I’ve read that I actually liked, the ones I didn’t like at all, and what all the good cliffhangers had in common. There is a lot that goes into creating a good cliffhanger, so of course the below points don’t cover everything. However, they are the things I felt came up most often with all the good cliffhangers I experienced. So, if you are a writer, or hope to be a writer in the future, I hope these points will help you when you are writing your next great cliffhanger!
Where
The whole point of a cliffhanger at the end of a book is to get the reader excited for the next book. So, it’s safe to say that a cliffhanger will only happen when there are multiple books in a series. It wouldn’t really make sense to end a standalone book on a cliffhanger right? No matter if you have 3 books in your series, or 30, it’s not a good idea for Book One to end with a major cliffhanger. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1,000 times… you should always tell the best story you can up front, and the best stories typically have a clear beginning, middle, and end. If you have a new series, and the intent is to have multiple books, you need to hook readers with great world-building, deep characters, and an engaging plot. You only get one chance to make a good first impression. When you end the first book in a series on a cliffhanger, you’re basically telling the reader that it doesn’t matter what they think of your first book, if they want to find out what happens, they need to buy the next book. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being told what to do. I should be able to make up my own mind on whether or not I want to continue reading the series after book one.
Resolution
It’s pretty common for stories to have multiple plot lines. Usually there is a main story or “A” story-line, and a sub-story or “B” story-line. Unless you are just completely stopping your book, some of these plot lines should be resolved by the end of the story. Again, having a clear beginning, middle, and end helps to make a good story. It is possible have a clear ending, and a cliffhanger at the same time. Your “A” story-line can be resolved, and one of your “B” story-lines can have a cliffhanger that gets the reader excited for the next volume, or vice versa. Your entire story can be resolved, and then a cliffhanger leaves an exciting opening for the next book. There are so many ways to provide resolution to your readers, but still get them excited for the next chapter. A book that just totally stops, with no resolution of anything, is not a good reading experience. It makes you feel like you are missing a piece of the puzzle. If I’m paying my money for a book, I want to be able to read a complete story.
Build Up
Everything that happens in a book prior to the ending, should help to support that ending. In order for a cliffhanger to have any impact, it should not just come out of nowhere. Introducing new characters or items, etc. might seem exciting, but it may leave readers confused unless there has been proper buildup. Proper buildup happens when the author takes the time to do proper world-building, has deep and complex characters, and an engaging plot. For example, if the cliffhanger involved a certain character, that character should be an important part of the story. The more time the author spends building up their current story, the more us readers will be invested in the ending of the book. Cliffhangers that come out of nowhere, may leave readers feeling confused at best, and angry at worst.
Consequences
A good cliffhanger needs to mean something. That means, there need to be real consequences to the characters involved, or to the overall story. When I think of the good cliffhangers I’ve read, I think about things like shocking character deaths, an important secret that gets revealed, or something that is achieved, but not in the way that the characters think it will be. So say you have a shocking character death, that death won’t mean anything or have any impact unless that character was either important to the plot, or important to another main character. If the cliffhanger is an event, that event needs to have real consequences to the characters involved. Maybe it will cause a big change for a character - could be physical or emotional. All the best endings, in general, not just cliffhangers, have real weight and mean something. That becomes even more important when you have a cliffhanger. Whatever emotion you want to reader to have, should be the same emotion that the characters in the book are experiencing. (unless it’s a secret that only the reader knows, or something like that)
Emotions
The best stories, in my opinion, are the ones that make you feel something. I’m not going to lie… I do like a story with a happy ending, and where everything gets tied up with a nice little bow. Having said that, I’ve also read some books with great cliffhangers that have left me shocked, excited, and dying to read the next book in the series. A good cliffhanger should make you feel something. The options are endless on how a good cliffhanger can make you feel - happy that a surprise character returns, shocked at a death, intrigued at a piece of information revealed. The one emotion that you should not feel, when reading a cliffhanger, is anger. The way that you feel at the end of a book, is the emotion that will stick with you whenever you think about that book. Just like you only have once chance to make a good first impression, you also only have one chance to leave your readers with a certain emotion. So everything that I mentioned prior, should help guide readers into feeling a certain way about the cliffhanger.
All the best book-ending cliffhangers I’ve read, have the above points in common. In my opinion, a good cliffhanger does not take place at the end of Book One, does provide some resolution to the story, has been built up by the rest of the book, has real consequences in the book world, and makes you feel a certain way. The different ways to put all of the above into one story are endless. There are so many great ways to add a cliffhanger at the end of a book that won’t leave the reader angry. So if you’re an author, or aspiring author, I hope this information helps you create a super awesome cliffhanger for your series!
What else do you like about books that end on a cliffhanger? Leave a comment below, or come join the conversation over on @kris_reviews on Instagram.
