I just got a good lesson on cliffhangers from Eric Kripke, creator of the (in my opinion) best show in the universe, Supernatural.
Tonight was the season finale. I'm not going to post any spoilers, so those of you who plan on catching it in a repeat or online, feel free to read on.
All I have to say (cutting out all of the profanities and "curse you Kripke!"s) is that the writers on the Supernatural team are freaking MASTERS at creating cliffhangers. Happened at the end of seasons 1, 3, and now 4. Viewers are left hanging just as we see the bad things going on. And then, boom, fade to black. It's just...well, if you're a fan of the show, you know what I mean.
This was actually a lesson to me -- what I pulled from it was this:
If you're going to end a book (chapter, whatever) with a cliffhanger, don't end it just BEFORE the bad thing happens. Do it RIGHT AS the bad thing is happening.
Season one of Supernatural (since that's been around awhile and I don't have to worry about leaking spoilers) ended, not right before the semi smashed into the car carrying Sam, Dean, and John, but right AFTER the semi hit them and we saw them unconscious and bleeding in the car. THEN it cut to black.
So if you're going to end a chapter with, say, somebody jumping off a cliff, don't end it and leave them still on the cliff. The reader probably will put the book down if they're tired and need to go to bed. But if you end the chapter right as your character jumps off the cliff, even the tiredest reader will generally not be able to resist reading on.
So: launch it into the bad thing and then pull back. Fade to black. End the chapter. End the book. Not right as it's about to happen, but after it's just started to happen.
If a semi is heading toward your character's car, don't end it with "the semi was headed straight toward them." No, end it with "there was a tremendous crunch of metal as the semi plowed into the car." Or something like that.
Man, I love cliffhangers.
When I write, I'm like...
When I blog, I'm like...
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Ahh, the almighty cliffhanger: how I love and hate thee.
I love the adrenaline and edge-of-the-seat, holy-crap-what's happening, I-have-to-see-how-it-ends! feeling they give me (e.g., tonight's Grey's finale), but man do I hate waiting for the next season/book!
And, what's worse ... a show ending w/a cliffhanger and (gasp!) not getting renewed.
I blame my reluctance to give cliffhangers a double thumbs up on the guys that decide which show gets yanked and which one stays. I'm terrified to watch anything with the potential for suspense--particularly on a certain network that rhymes with "Box"--b/c every time I get attached, BAM! The show gets pulled. And I'm left thinking, "But what happens after he shoots the ex-druggie up with heroin?!"
Perfect example of what my fear of cliffhangers does to me: I never committed to Supernatural. I watched part of the first season b/c I had a Buffy-sized void in my heart that needed to be filled, and, let's be honest, I thought the leads were both hoTTT. But I didn't watch it religiously, b/c I didn't want to be attached to something I would love and lose.
But do you know what I do love? Box sets. And Netflix. And box sets on Netflix. Particularly the ones I can download to that little black thing sitting on top of the t.v. and watch instantly.
love a good cliff hanger. donno how good I am at writing them though. best cliff hangers in a book are the Nancy Drew books I've found. There's like a big cliff hanger at the end of nearly all the chapters. even in the first chapters.
Good post. I like intrigue, subtle cliffhangers, and I'm not sure how good I am at doing them. I do try to leave my chapters at a point that compels the reader to continue. I think its important for alot of reasons, not the least of which is flow. They can be overdone or written badly of course, but I like them myself.
I never realized that. Thanks a lot, Jenna! Cliffhangers are maddening for me. Now I better understand why. But, I still try to avoid them whenever possible. I lose too much sleep. I can't focus at work. That's bad, if you have to wait a whole summer for the show to come back again.
Good writers always have the best cliffhangers. I even noticed in the season finale of House, it's exactly as you said.
I love a good cliffhanger, especially if it's a good cliffhanger at the end of some book that looks as if it will turn into a not-too-endless series. That's the way I'm writing my own trilogy: the first two have obvious cliffhanger endings, the third wraps everything up.
Anne G
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