Cliffhanger

A cliffhanger is an ending placed at a moment of high suspense, with the outcome left unresolved, so that the reader or viewer is driven to continue.

The door opens, the figure steps out of the shadow, and it is someone we thought was dead. Chapter ends. The reader turns the page. That is a cliffhanger doing its job.

How it works

A cliffhanger works by asking a question the reader needs answered and withholding the answer at the moment it matters most.

• A threat. The hero is in danger and the outcome is unknown.
• A revelation. A secret comes out, with no time for its consequences.
• A choice. The character stands at a decision, and the chapter ends before it.
• A reversal. What seemed safe turns out not to be.

Using one well

Make the question real and the stakes clear. Pay it off promptly and truthfully: if the next chapter reveals that the danger was a dream, the reader has been cheated. Vary the technique, because a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter becomes a predictable tic.

Not every ending needs to hang. Quiet chapter endings give readers rest and make the cliffhangers count for more.

Why it matters to a writer or editor

Editors use cliffhangers as a pacing tool. A flat chapter ending is an invitation to put the book down. A well-judged one is a promise. In a draft, check where the chapter breaks fall and whether the reader has a reason to continue. See suspense, hook for the opening version, and scene and sequel for the structure that makes a pause breathe.

Frequently asked questions

Where does the term cliffhanger come from?

It is often credited to the serial fiction of the early twentieth century, where a hero was left hanging from a cliff at the end of an installment. A frequently cited early example is Thomas Hardy's A Pair of Blue Eyes, which in the 1870s left a character literally on a cliff.

Are cliffhangers a cheap trick?

They can be if the next chapter dodges the problem. A fair cliffhanger raises a real question that the story then answers honestly.

Where can a cliffhanger go?

At the end of a chapter, a part, an episode, a season or a book. Series fiction uses the biggest ones at the end of a volume.