The Twists As The Story Turns

Cliffhangers

A/N Entry for the tips contest by nonfiction

❤️Let me warn you first. I've been writing on Wattpad for the past five months only, so I'm not the best person to give tips, but if any of you are actually interested, do peek in.

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I want to tell you all about cliffhangers.

It's nothing new to you. Everyone wants to end a chapter with a cliffy, which would make readers want to go on, so that they just can't tear themselves away.

I use cliffhangers a lot which annoys my readers, but there are a few things you need to remember whenever you actually use a cliffhanger. They are a dangerous territory. A good cliffhanger will attract readers, while a poorly formulated one will make them go away.

So the tips...

1. Don't end a chapter in such a
    way that your readers are left
    hanging about whether they
    want to go on. Often writers
    make the mistake of going on a
    suspenseful whirlwind,
    twisting and turning the story
    till readers get bored.

2. You're free to end a chapter
    with a cliffy, but try to solve   
    some of the conflicts, or
    the mystery. Don't just beat
    about the bush, pack chapters
    with emotions and forget to
    forward the action. Chapters
    should be short, fast, crisp and
    breath holding.

3. I've learnt this as a lesson.
    Don't use rhetoric as
    cliffhangers. Rhetoric
    questions spoil the fun,
    ultimately affecting your book.

4. The most vital tip of all. Don't
    use cliffhangers if you don't
    have a super plot ready. It's too
    disappointing for readers to
    wait for a chapter and then
    when it comes out finally, it's
    crap. My advice is, if you don't
    have any ideas to continue the
    story, end it! Simply conclude
    it rather than adding cliffy,
    taking the readers through a
    maze and ultimately ending
    up nowhere. This is respecting
    the readers and their desires.

5. NOT EVERY CHAPTER OF A
    BOOK NEEDS TO END IN
    CLIFFHANGERS. You should
    actually avoid cliffhangers in
    every chapter unless absolutely
    necessary. Even a good chapter
    will make readers go on.
    Readers shouldn't feel like
    you're holding back
    information from them, just to
    make them read on. This leads
    to a different kind of
    frustration altogether.

6. One thing I do, it's just a
    personal technique, nothing
    much helpful, but I end a
    cliffhanger with ellipses (...)
    that is the three dots. I forget
    sometimes. But when I
    remember I put. And if you're
    using ellipsis , do make sure
   you put three dots only as it is
   a grammatically correct
   punctuation. Don't use more or
   less than three. Even you can
   see Ms Word auto correct it.

Thus, always remember to use the right cliffhangers at the right places. Happy Writing.

418 words completed.

Thank you so much Pipigrin KashishBelikov and MaryFahey for always staying by me, encouraging me to excel.