Should Writers End Installments Of A Serial In A Cliffhanger?

By on June 27, 2014

I was chatting with a fellow serial erotic romance writer and we were discussing cliffhangers. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffhanger ), a “cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction.”

My buddy is pro cliffhanger. She ends every installment of her serial with a cliffhanger. She feels this, yes, prompts readers to buy the next installment, but this also heightens the drama of these key split scenes. The anticipation spotlights the scene’s importance. These are the scenes she most wants readers to talk about, examine, notice.

I don’t end the installments in my serials with cliffhangers. I believe that every installment in an erotic romance serial should have that awww… happy for now ending expected with romance (the last installment, clearly, will have a happy ever after ending). This is difficult to do. I won’t lie. But no one said writing was easy. (grins)

I also use the pause between installments to strengthen the story. It is the pause between action scenes, the quiet, reflective moment needed in good storytelling. When readers tell me they wait until my serial is completed and then read them all at once, I groan because the breaks are necessary for the full experience.

Talking to readers, the preference seems to be split between cliffhanger lovers and cliffhanger haters. I tell readers what to expect from my serials so they know the type of story they’re investing their valuable time in.

Should you end your installments in a cliffhanger? That’s your call. Yes. (grins) I realize that’s not the answer you’re looking for. There are no rules in writing. Do what you believe best serves your story.

Readers, do you love or hate cliffhangers? Writers, what is your preference?


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Sinful Rewards 1

Cynthia Sax

Belinda “Bee” Carter is a good girl; at least, that’s what she tells herself. And a good girl deserves a nice guy—just like the gorgeous and moody billionaire Nicolas Rainer. He is everything she wants in a man.

Or so she thinks, until she takes a look through her telescope and sees a naked, tattooed man on the balcony across the courtyard. Hawke is mysterious, the bad boy she knows will bring only heartbreak. He has been watching her, and that makes him all the more enticing.

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One response to “Should Writers End Installments Of A Serial In A Cliffhanger?”

  1. flchen1 says:

    Hi, Cyn! I personally hate cliffhangers because I don’t being like left hanging–I know it seems to work for some authors, but I prefer some resolution. I know that in a serial, there’s usually an overarching plot that extends past the immediate installment, but that doesn’t mean that the reader needs to be left dangling over the edge of a bluff at the end of each bit. Just IMHO, of course 🙂