Scene from The Italian Job. (c) Paramount Pictures 1969

Keeping Them (Cliff)hanging.

Welcome to this week’s #TuesdayTip.

I recently watched a debate on a Facebook readers’ group about cliffhangers and whether readers liked them, thought they were necessary or just a cynical way to ensure readers bought the next book in a series. There were a variety of opinions expressed, although I am pleased to say that the discourse was largely respectful.

Before we go any further, I think it would be helpful to get some definitions.

What do we mean by a cliffhanger?

For those unfamiliar with the term, it is a narrative device whereby a chapter, instalment, episode or book is left unresolved. In order to find out what happens next, the reader (or viewer) needs to continue reading or watching the story. Often the protagonists are left in danger, or a seemingly impossible situation. Perhaps a major revelation is made.

The technique has been around for a long time. The epic Arabic tale One Thousand and One Nights, dating back to the middle ages, sees Scheherazade telling a new tale each night to King Shahryar. By ending each story on a cliff hanger, she successfully postpones her execution, as the king is desperate to hear how each story is resolved the following night.

More recently, luminaries such as Charles Dickens would end each instalment of their serialised novels with a cliffhanger to entice readers to buy the next episode. In modern times, continuing dramas, especially soap operas, rely on this hook to ensure viewers or listeners tune into the next episode, or return after the commercial break.

The phrase is likely to have originated in the 1870s when a serialised version of Thomas Hardy’s A Pair of Blue Eyes, literally left the protagonist hanging off a cliff.

What different types of cliffhanger do we find in modern story-telling?

The most common example is at the end of the chapter. One of the best accolades a writer can receive is that their book was ‘unputdownable‘. That readers stayed up later than planned, because they wanted to read just one more chapter, or binge watch another episode. The trick here is to leave a hook that needs to be resolved. In thrillers, this may involve the protagonist being placed in danger. In crime and mystery a new revelation or perhaps a twist that means everything to date was incorrect. In other genres it could be a surprise or a shock.

Of course, immediate resolution in the next chapter is only one solution here. Something that a lot of writers do is harness the power of delayed gratification. Many stories have several different threads or character arcs running alongside each other. A common device (trick?) is to finish a scene on a cliffhanger, then switch to a different thread, leaving that cliffhanger to fester in the reader’s mind. This can be really effective, as instead of reading one more chapter, the reader might read several more until they find the answer they are waiting for.

Skilled writers walk the fine line between teasing readers and encouraging them to continue, and frustrating them, so that they give up or give the book a poor review. A really skilled writer lingers in the thoughts and dreams of their readers after they are forced to put the book down, go to sleep, then work the next day.

There are plenty of other places for cliffhangers.

Mini-cliffhangers at the end of key scenes, before a section break, rather than a chapter. In broadcast media, this entices you to return after the commercials (or hopefully sit through them).

For serialised stories, the cliffhanger can be a hook that makes you seek out the next edition of the magazine. This is pretty much the business model for modern superhero comics. A typical comic will have several different stories, all at different stages, sometimes even spread across different titles, so that readers will find themselves not only buying comics week-in-week-out for months or years, but even buying different titles. Even when you finish the first story, you’ll have probably read the other stories in the comic and will therefore continue until you finish those stories, probably starting new ones ad infinitum. Sometimes you might have to hop from an edition of The Amazing Wonder Bloke to an edition of Wonder Bloke and Friends to Wonder Bloke and Wonder Lass to get the full story, encountering new, ongoing stories as you do so. Personally, I dislike that form of storytelling. It is blatantly trying to get you to part with more money – but there’s no denying it works, and to be fair, readers know how it works.

One of the objections some participants in the original forum had was leaving a cliffhanger at the end of a novel, so you have to buy the next in the series. I can see their point. It’s one thing to publish a serialised story where everyone understands that you are subscribing for the long haul, but another to sell readers a £10 paperback, where the readers typically expect the primary story to be wrapped up. Obviously, on-going series might have story threads that continue, but again it is a fine line enticing a reader to consider the next book in the series and leaving them feeling unfulfilled, unsatisfied and perhaps even a bit manipulated.

In summary, cliffhangers are one of the most powerful tools that any writer has, regardless of genre. But you have to treat your readers with respect. By all means entice them to continue with the book, or even a series, and I would argue that when it comes to making a reader read just one more chapter, anything goes. But when a book is finished, the main story should be concluded.

One last thing: If you are going to end a book or an episode on a major cliffhanger, please at least have the courtesy to finish that story in a future instalment. American network TV has a really nasty habit of pulling TV series halfway through a run, or unexpectedly not renewing for a new season. Think Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles or more recently Legends of Tomorrow.

What do you think about cliffhangers? Clever narrative devices that enhance our enjoyment, or shameless attempts to extort money? As always, feel free to answer here or on social media.

Until next time,

Paul

PS: If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.