By Marni
Graff
Every writer looks for
ways to keep readers flipping pages in their work. An original story line and
wonderful prose, coupled with compelling characters and a setting that
functions almost as a secondary character will be a goal for writers in any
genre.
One other useful device
is chapter endings that compel the reader to continue flipping pages,
called cliffhangers. I’m a crime writer, where cliffhangers are
the norm in my mysteries, but they can be used for any genre. Simply put, a
cliffhanger is a suspenseful situation that occurs at the end of a chapter or
scene and helps compel the reader to turn to the next page.
There are three main
ways to implement a cliffhanger:
- An
intriguing question: which comes about through a character or an event. (Who
could have killed the bride?)
- Through
dialogue: where something is revealed in conversation. (“I’m pregnant.”)
- Using
description: make the exposition short but worthy! (She turned the body and
screamed when she realized it was someone she knew.)
And there is a multitude
of ways to accomplish this.
Someone: takes an
action; reacts to something; arrives; leaves. OR
Something: Happens on
its own; in response to a characters’ action; or fails to happen; changes;
fails to change.
Cliffhangers can also be
a reinforcing statement that echoes the scene’s tension, or sums up the
situation. It can paint a dire picture of the situation that lies ahead.
So you see there are
many ways to utilize cliffhangers. Tune in on Monday to see specific ways you
can keep readers interest.
____________________________________________________________________
Marni Graff is the Award-winning author of The Nora
Tierney English Mysteries, and The Trudy Genova Manhattan
Mysteries. The Nora Tierney English Mysteries feature American Nora living
in England. THE BLUE VIRGIN received First
Prize in the Mystery and Mayhem Award for Best British Cozy from
Chanticleer Review and is set in Oxford. THE GREEN REMAINS takes
Nora to the Lake District and murder follows and won the same award for Best
British Cozy. THE SCARLET WENCH , shortlisted for
the same award, finds Nora involved in finding the murderer from a visiting
theatre troupe living amongst her and her son at the lodge where she’s staying.
A copy of SW is in the archives of the estate of Noel Coward, as all of the
chapter epigrams are lines from his farce, “Blithe Spirit” which figures in the
action. The fourth, THE GOLDEN HOUR, debut, July 2017,
and finds Nora visiting Brighton, Cornwall, her beloved Oxford, with key action
in Bath. The entire series has also been narrated for Audible books by British
actress Nano Nagle.The first Trudy Genova Manhattan Mystery, Death
Unscripted, is based on Graff’s real-life work as a medical consultant
for a New York movie studio. Trudy has that job, too, but in her case, murder
follows. This is the book P. D. James insisted Graff write and is dedicated to
her. This book was named a finalist for the IAN Awards and is shortlisted as
Best Mystery from Chanticleer Media. In progress is Book 2 in that
series, DEATH OF AN HEIRESS. Graff is Managing Editor of Bridle Path Press, an author’s cooperative
based out of Baltimore, MD, and writes this crime review blog, Auntie M Writes.
Also known as Auntie M, MK and Marnette,
Marni grew up in Floral Park, NY. She currently resides in rural North
Carolina, and lives on the Pungo River, part of the coast’s Intracoastal Waterway. Graff
is the author of screenplays, stories, essays and poetry, in addition to the
two mystery series. Her creative nonfiction was most recently seen in Southern
Women’s Review, Fine Line Anthology and, and
Shelf Pleasures. Her poem about Amelia Earhart in an anthology of poems
dedicated to the pilot that is on display in Earhart’s hometown museum. Marni Graff @GraffMarni
www.auntiemwrites.com
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