Oh Crap! Now What?

THIS is exactly where you want to end your chapter. 

Don't drag it on and try to wrap things up.  It's not a speech, where you need to tell everyone what you just told them.  It's not the end of the book, where you have to make sure all the loose ends are tied up tightly in a pretty bow.

You want readers to feel nervous, agitated, and completely mental about finding out how the character is going to handle the bombshell you just dropped.

From their experience with previous chapters, the reader can be pretty certain your resourceful character will handle this new complication.  The fun part, what you want them salivating to find out, is HOW they deal with this new calamity.

You don't want readers to finish the chapter smiling and saying, "Oh, that was nice" while they skip off to make a cup of tea.  You want them wild-eyed, chewing on their fingernails, their stomach churning with worry--because the reader knows what this new state of affairs means to your character.

The reader is a sort of emotional co-pilot.  If they care about your character, they want to be right by their side the entire way, yelling encouragement like a birthing coach.  The reader should be mentally pacing like the old-school dads outside the delivery room, trying to appear calm while agonizing over how to deal with this life-changing event.

So take a look at your current chapter endings.  Is there a question left in the reader's mind?  Is it compelling?  Or is it more like a commercial, an excuse to put things on pause so you can go to the kitchen and rustle up a snack?

If that's the case, then go back up a couple paragraphs.  Is this where you should have ended things?  Don't worry.  The paragraphs after that won't go to waste.  They can start the new chapter, because the story flow is already there.  It just needs to be broken up to heighten the tension and suspense, effectively increasing the "Oh crap!  Now what?" factor.

You don't want your chapter endings to be a rest stop for a weary traveler.  Instead, they should be like a shot of adrenaline, spurring the reader on until the next one, and the next one. . .all the way to the very end, until the reader closes the book and says, "Oh crap! What an amazing trip!"

Comments

[Maureen]

I don't know, Donna. When I'm reading...I like the occasional chapter ending that lets me set the book down and go use the bathroom... ;-)

But I get the gist or what you're saying and have to admit, I love ending a chapter knowing a reader is going to curse me. Because they really need to take a break, bathroom or whatever!

[Liz Fichera]

So true! A good hook at the end of every chapter keeps me turning pages.

[Melissa]

I want the reader to curse me at the end of a chapter too. LOL I think (imagine) it would be the highest compliment if a reader told me all kinds of things fell apart (the kids not fed, etc.) while reading my book because taking a break at the end of a chapter was NOT an option. And I'd tell them, don't worry, the kids will survive short term "neglect." LOL What a "nice" fan letter daydream. *sigh*

I love writing cliff hanger type chapter endings and I'll often split a chapter if I think the middle conflict has been "resolved." That resolution is for the end. In romance writing especially, since we do know the end, the cliffhangers seem almost more important.

And I think now, even though circumstances have forced an extended "break" from my WIP, it's those cliff hangers that keep my interest going to get back to the story.

Very interesting topic, Donna!

[Jan O'Hara]

Yep. I'm a big fan of ending the chapter on disaster or discovery. As a reader who wants to sleep, not so much. ;)

[Donna Cummings]

Maureen, I know what you mean--sometimes the "bathroom breaks" end up being in the middle of a scene, rather than the end of the chapter. LOL

So yes, our goal is to be cursed out by the reader! LOL

[Donna Cummings]

Liz, I have to agree about those ending hooks--they keep me reading way later than I should!

[Donna Cummings]

Melissa, I cracked up at your fantasy fan letter, complete with all kinds of disasters unrelated to the book. LOL

I completely agree with what you said about romance needing cliffhangers even more than other genres, since we do know we've got a happily-ever-after ending waiting.

I've found that when I'm drafting I have a tendency to resolve the conflicts at the end of each scene, just so I know where I'm going with the story--but then when I'm revising I go back and split it up, to get that cliffhanger in there. *rubs hands together* I love creating that angst for my characters AND the readers! LOL

[Donna Cummings]

Jan, somehow my comment to you disappeared! LOL

I like that -- ending on disaster or discovery. And you're right, as a reader, I'm cursing the writer who keeps me awake all night to find out the answers! But boy is it fun as a writer. :)

[Terri Osburn]

This is timely since I'll be working on my Golden Heart entry for the rest of the week. (Synopsis done - Whoot!) I know it's only 50 pages, but I should probably have a cliffhanger or two in there, huh? LOL!

Melissa - I love that fan letter. That would be awesome. I've cursed Christie Craig more than once, for she is the QUEEN of making it impossible to stop reading at the end of a chapter. But I'd still love to be able to DO that.

[Donna Cummings]

Terri, that's great about your synopsis being done! And I think if you have a cliffhanger or two in your entry, making the judges wish they had more to read--that is a great idea. :)

I've decided I can't read certain authors before trying to go to sleep. LOL Because I know they'll make it so I DON'T go to sleep!

[Clarissa Southwick]

What great advice. After I finish a book, I always have to go back and check all my chapter endings to see if they have a hook.

[Donna Cummings]

Thanks, Clarissa. It's usually easier for me to figure out the hooks after I'm done, although once in a while a good one shows up in the drafting phase!