 Action/Adventure: August 06, 2014 Issue [#6481] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: Can There Be Too Many Cliffhangers? Edited by: Sara♥Jean  
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I'm so excited to be your Action/Adventure Newsletter Editor this week! Please let me know if you have any feedback, or if you have any topics you'd like covered in a newsletter. I will be glad to research it for you and do my best.
Sara Jean |
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Can There Be Too Many Cliffhangers?
Television shows do it, novels do it, chapters do it, movies do it... everyone is doing it! But can there be too many?
I was curious about this particular topic because.... well, I am not exactly sure, actually. But they are seen everywhere. At the end of one television season, there is a cliffhanger to make sure you are on edge for an entire summer before they will allow you to see the conclusion the next season (or never at all, if the show is cancelled). At the end of a chapter, to make sure you will continue to the next. At the end of a book, to make sure you will continue the series.
This is, I suppose, an opinion type topic. So, after reading several things about it, I will tell you my opinion with which you may take what you like:
1. It is ok if there are more cliffhangers than one might expect, but they need to be different.
If it is always the same sort of cliffhanger (physical danger, captured and can't escape, noise behind a door, etc), it becomes predictable and monotonous. But if each cliffhanger is different, it does help.
2. The cliffhangers need to vary in severity.
If every cliffhanger is a life-or-death situation, it is going to get old fast. Some need to just be a curiosity, and some need to be more serious.
3. The cliffhangers need to be done well.
I don't know about you, but I've read some really bad cliffhangers and foreshadowing. Some that, quite literally, make me want to put the book I am reading down, and never pick it back up again for fear of more bad cliffhangers. So be careful - avoid cliches and repetition.
4. Don't have a cliffhanger just for the sake of having a cliffhanger.
Cliffhangers should have a purpose. They shouldn't just be to keep your reader's attention - your story should be able to do that whether or not you decide to leave your readers hanging off on a limb.
So, I suppose that is what it is! Use them in varying ways, and make sure you use them well. I suppose, just like any other literary tool.  |
To demonstrate how to move from chapter to chapter, I am leaving you with some first chapters. Feel free to find more of these particular stories, if you so wish.
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Here are the comments and feedback from my last A/A newsletter, "Action/Adventure Newsletter (July 9, 2014)" .
shaara said, "Ah, but thinking what if this were a movie, what parts would they use might provide us with the path for a cleaner manuscript. Sometimes we novelists do have to weed the garden."
I suppose that is true! It is a good way to weed some things out, but we do have to be careful not to take away too much.
Quick-Quill  said, "Great short NL. A book club that a co-worker's wife belongs to offered to read my manuscript and RED PENCIL it. When we met they told me how much they loved the story and couldn't put it down.(red pencils marks on only the first 2-3 chapters) then two of the ladies said "Its so good it should be a movie!" I thought about this. I don't know how this could be a movie. I remember seeing Sarah's Key and although it told the story, it didn't TELL the story. I don't feel my novel would translate well, but I could be wrong. Like Sarah's Key I don't want the story to fall flat. I'd rather keep it a book. A best seller yes."
You could always ask! Seems like the person who read it had a great picture of what was going on in her mind.
monty31802 said, "I think all writers agree that a story read is better than the same one made into a movie. I do so like to read the idea in a News Letter. Thank you."
Writers agree, yes! I have seen some movie-watchers disagree, but I think that is because we need to just nudge them to get into those books, anyway.
Joy  said, "Great NL, Sara Jean.
Yes, movies are much shorter than the novels they are scripted from, and because of that, a good novel loses a lot from its value when made into a movie.
Most successful movies, on the other hand, are made from short stories, like Yentl. My guess is short stories favor the acting around the story, as to facial gestures and other dramatic input, such as props, sound, etc."
I agree entirely! When they make larger novels into movies, it seems like my favorite characters seem to vanish. It always makes me sad.
Let me know what you think! |
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