Joshua Palmatier (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jpskewedthrone) wrote2008-01-13 10:29 pm
jpskewedthrone) wrote2008-01-13 10:29 pm
Entry tags:
Where do you end Chapters? (Writer Tip)
A question came up on the OWW listserv forum about how to end chapters. The original question was whether you should end them on a cliffhanger or not, and the person asking the question thought that didn't make sense, since often the author would then spend the next chapter on a different character or POV and not get back to the cliffhanger immediately, so how could that be an effective way to end a chapter? Anyway, I responded with the way that I end a chapter (or try to) and I thought it was worthwhile to post it here and see what everyone thought about the topic. Here's my response:
I think the key (which someone else may have said already) is to end
the chapters STRONG. You want the reader to have no reason to put
the book down. You want them to turn to the next page and start the
next chapter without even THINKING of putting the book down, as if
there wasn't a chapter break at all. You don't even want them to
notice the chapter break. They should just flip the page and
continue reading.
People take this to mean breaking a scene in the middle, which it
doesn't. As you say, that gets annoying. And it's bad writing
anyway, because the break for the chapter is likely to break the
reader from the story, which you don't want to happen in any way.
So, no, I wouldn't suggest breaking a key scene in the middle for an
ending. Especially if you're going to start the new chapter with
another POV for a completely different scene and then come back to
that middle later. Very bad form. People do it because they feel it
heightens the tension. Like you, I just find it annoying, and it
seriously breaks the reader's flow, to the point where they might set
the book aside . . . for good.
So what I do for my chapter endings is resolve whatever the key point
in that chapter was, but end it immediately after that, so the reader
is asking THEMSELVES what happens next. Not the same as breaking the
scene in the middle. That scene is complete, and it usually twists
the plot in some way the character wasn't expecting and leaves them
with a new problem . . . and the new problem is what makes the reader
gasp. "Holy shit, what are they going to do now?" is what I want the
reader to think. And hopefully they can't wait to find out, so they
flip the page, barely notice the chapter heading, and just dive right
in.
Of course, you typically can't do this for every chapter in the
book. For the "lighter" chapters, I try to end each chapter with a
very solid idea of where the character is headed next and why. So I
might end it with a character's decision that they can no longer stay
in the forest, that that isn't accomplishing anything anymore, and so
they vow to change. This is for a chapter that isn't plot heavy of
course, but character heavy.
In all cases though, the last sentence (or perhaps last paragraph)
should be a very strong one, something with weight and/or meaning.
In the forest example above, the last sentence had character
meaning. He realized through the course of the chapter that he'd
essentially been "asleep", hiding in the forest from all of his grief
and pain, and that that had to end. So the last sentence was: "I
don't want to sleep anymore." The buildup to that gave it a nice
solid weight, and the new chapter begins with a sense of resolve.
Anyway, that's my theory on chapter endings. *grin*
What's yours?
How Do You End a Chapter?
I think the key (which someone else may have said already) is to end
the chapters STRONG. You want the reader to have no reason to put
the book down. You want them to turn to the next page and start the
next chapter without even THINKING of putting the book down, as if
there wasn't a chapter break at all. You don't even want them to
notice the chapter break. They should just flip the page and
continue reading.
People take this to mean breaking a scene in the middle, which it
doesn't. As you say, that gets annoying. And it's bad writing
anyway, because the break for the chapter is likely to break the
reader from the story, which you don't want to happen in any way.
So, no, I wouldn't suggest breaking a key scene in the middle for an
ending. Especially if you're going to start the new chapter with
another POV for a completely different scene and then come back to
that middle later. Very bad form. People do it because they feel it
heightens the tension. Like you, I just find it annoying, and it
seriously breaks the reader's flow, to the point where they might set
the book aside . . . for good.
So what I do for my chapter endings is resolve whatever the key point
in that chapter was, but end it immediately after that, so the reader
is asking THEMSELVES what happens next. Not the same as breaking the
scene in the middle. That scene is complete, and it usually twists
the plot in some way the character wasn't expecting and leaves them
with a new problem . . . and the new problem is what makes the reader
gasp. "Holy shit, what are they going to do now?" is what I want the
reader to think. And hopefully they can't wait to find out, so they
flip the page, barely notice the chapter heading, and just dive right
in.
Of course, you typically can't do this for every chapter in the
book. For the "lighter" chapters, I try to end each chapter with a
very solid idea of where the character is headed next and why. So I
might end it with a character's decision that they can no longer stay
in the forest, that that isn't accomplishing anything anymore, and so
they vow to change. This is for a chapter that isn't plot heavy of
course, but character heavy.
In all cases though, the last sentence (or perhaps last paragraph)
should be a very strong one, something with weight and/or meaning.
In the forest example above, the last sentence had character
meaning. He realized through the course of the chapter that he'd
essentially been "asleep", hiding in the forest from all of his grief
and pain, and that that had to end. So the last sentence was: "I
don't want to sleep anymore." The buildup to that gave it a nice
solid weight, and the new chapter begins with a sense of resolve.
Anyway, that's my theory on chapter endings. *grin*
What's yours?
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