Can you end a story on a cliffhanger?

Are there good ways to end a story on a cliffhanger? Let's say you've resolved everything that is relevant to the plot but there are more mysteries to uncover that has been hinted at throughout the story. For instance, the main characters decides to further explore their world or other worlds and end it at that.

I mean, if people think it's a good story one could write more, but if it doesn't receive good reception you could try new projects instead.

I'm thinking from the perspective of a novice author here who hasn't published anything and is a far cry from publishing anything novel sized.

 

I wouldn't call loose ends a "cliffhanger" - I think cliffhangers relate directly to the main plot of the book? Depending on what these loose ends are, I think it's fine - that's pretty much how series works I think. If the main conflict has been resolved within one book, it's fine.

But I'm not sure what you mean by "good ways"?

I've always found this cliffhanger stuff interesting. I grew up with Japanese manga first and cliffhangers are a staple of the medium - every volume ends on a cliffhanger. And then in the west, for novels, it's obviously frowned upon. Same thing with TV series - both Chinese dramas and Japanese anime/drama consistently end on a cliffhanger. It's just how it's done. But every episode of any TV series in the UK and US are standalone episodes, rarely with any cliffhangers unless it was towards the end of a season or something.

 

I have read a few that have done that. Some worked, and some I just felt
like the author totally screwed over the story. I am talking about stand alone
books, not series.
When it comes to series it depends. Some try to all be stand alones with the
same cast and world, and others are all just chunks of a longer continuous
story. In my opinion it would make more sense for them to me the latter,
as they offer more character development and typically pick up where
the prior book left off.
So it is all up to you and what your plans are for the story. If you feel
you would like to have a sequel follow it, then you already have your
answer. If you are hoping the first performs well enough, that is should
warrant a sequel that is another matter entirely. If you don't intend to
have a sequel then I am sure it will be fine either way. Sometimes less
is more, and a good story will not gain much from adding on more later.

Good luck.

 

You're right, cliffhanger is a poor choice of words, but it isn't really loose ends either, because the world doesn't end when the story ends, you know what I mean? You are not supposed to know everything, when the plot ends.

 

@Stammis - I take it you mean you have resolved the immediate arc of your plot, but you've left it open-ended so your character can live on and do more stuff? I think that's fine. That's not a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger is where the story is NOT finished and the reader must know what happened next, or they will walk away unsatisfied, or even angry. However, assuming a character lives on after the resolution of the plot and simply has more to do, more worlds to explore, more adventures to have? I'd say that's a good ending.

 

I think it's fine to drop some hints that the adventures continue. Like a "But that's a tale for another day" format.

 

I actually prefer cliffhangers over solid endings. How most plots are linear, you can get a good idea of what will happen before it does, so instead of waiting for the climax I wait for the curveball plot-twist that makes me want more.

 

But how do you feel if you never GET more? That's basically the question. If you are writing what might be a stand-alone book, and you end with a cliffhanger, and the second book never gets written or published, how are your readers going to feel? Think of all the good TV shows that got prematurely cancelled, and the last episode was a cliffhanger. Or simply left important story arcs unfinished. Angry viewers still growl about these.

 

I think those endings where the world seems to live on after the story ends are excellent, and it gives a more authentic feel to the story. It's as if you're not just there to tell the story and end it, but also to build a life for your characters that will continue on, whether or not it's written out in a continuation. Even more so, I enjoy a sequel built into the same world that calls back to the previous stories and characters, like a homage. "Gone but not forgotten."

 

It's happened to me a lot, it's really disappointing. But in the end I walk away good knowing the story still had more to offer.

 

Yeah, but while that might be comforting to think about, it's not exactly a recommendation, is it? If that were the standard way to end a story, every story would end on a cliffhanger.

And there are many people out there, like me, who hate being left dangling. I got so fed up with shows I liked getting prematurely cancelled, that I no longer watch any of them unless I know they've been finished. The last one that happened to me was getting caught up in the new (British) version of Survivors ...the one that takes place in the present, just after a horrible virus has wiped out most of the population. It got two seasons, developed fantastic characters, ended on a cliffhanger ...then cancellation.

That's when I told myself 'no more.' I'm not watching any more of these kinds of shows unless I know they've been finished. It's too upsetting, and I'm not happy to just walk away knowing there was more to offer.

 

Personally I get really grumpy if a book ends on a cliffhanger with the main story not being finished—and if I haven't been told beforehand that this would be the case. I never buy the second book, if the first one was not brilliantly written. There are a few series of books where I knew what I was getting into and was fine with that, until the author wrote, and wrote, and wrote, and never tied up the loose endings. The Honor Harrington Series is one of those. I stopped reading them.

If the main story is finished? Then yes, I'd be fine with that.

 

The problem I have with cliffhangers is you kind of have to screw up your story structure to get one. You either have to cut mid climax to get the cliffhanger or you have to generate some sort of after climax conflict that you cut away from in the middle of. Even books in a series should follow a pattern of building tension, climax and denouement. There are overarching conflicts between the books, but basically every book is a self contained novel that you should be able to read on it's own. Even The Lord of The Rings books follows this pattern and they were originally meant to be one one novel, but were cut into three volumes due to publishing constraints.

 

Actually I've come across two trilogies - one of them being the Hunger Games - where the cliffhanger comes in the second book. It's like the author is secure in the knowledge that they have you hooked from the stand-alone first book, so now they're free to experiment or something

And I don't really watch much TV but Firefly - they should never have cancelled that at least they made a movie to finalise the main plot so fans had some closure. But still, such a shame.

 

I can't think of any examples from books off the top of my head, but for films the Italian Job (the original) springs to mind and The Incredibles. I loved both of these but what they had in common is the main story arc is tied up and they give you a little taster of the characters going on with their lives rather than leaving it as 'and they all lived happily ever after'. Which seems to be what you meant?

I like this approach because it's more realistic than assuming 'happily ever after' and keeps the characters alive and interesting. (I know Italian Job was meant to have a sequel that was never made and Incredibles is getting a sequel now but I didn't when I watched them and that didn't ruin it for me.)

However I would be frustrated if the main arc was never answered. I'm fine with having to wait for a sequel and reading fan theories can be fun in the meantime, but I would want to know.

 

I haven't read Jim Butcher's Dresden Files (apart from the 1st book, which I didn't like for some reason) but I understood there were some overarching storylines that carried onto subsequent books, so unless you're ending in a clear cliffhanger, like someone gets killed and you don't show the killer, it sounds like a pretty cool thing to do.

 

I think it's actually a fairly standard formula for trilogies--the first installment is a standalone with background threads that don't get totally tied up (heroes defeat villains for now), the second installment is where the villains make a comeback and leave the heroes on the brink of failure, and the third installment is where the heroes rally and finally take the villains down.

Just look at the original Star Wars trilogy.

 

Aha I didn't know that this was a standard amongst trilogies, but it makes sense. Not familiar enough with the Star Wars overall plot to remember much except the obvious key elements though. I don't honestly know the original and I never watched the second installment of the new ones.

 

The Italian Job ending was perfect, though. Even leaving aside the legal issues at the time with letting characters in a movie get away with a crime, it just fit with the whole amateur-hour gang that their characters had been set up to be.

I honestly can't think of a better ending for that movie.

Otherwise, I agree with some posts up above: I hate stories that end with a cliffhanger and don't conclude the main plotline of that novel. I like stories that have a decent ending to the main plot in that novel, but leave some things dangling for future books.

 

Sorry if I didn't make it clear, I meant I loved both of these including the endings. I agree that cliffhangers can work as long as you eventually get answers to what has been the main plot (whether that be in a stand alone or a sequel).

 

The Incredibles didn't have a cliffhanger, though. The main plot was entirely cleaned up with the only ambiguity left as to whether the world needed Supers, with the Underminers appearance teasing (because it's a teaser) that it probably did.

 

For me personally I wouldn't like a cliff hanger but after all ends of the current plot are tied up I do like to know there could be more to come.
For instance in the final paragraph of "Along came a spider" Sampson wakes Alex Cross up by banging on the door to tell him there has been a murder. Obviously I knew there was more books to come already before reading it but if it was just released I would have been satisfied with the story end and left happily knowing there is plans for another one.

I also like the idea of someone or thing turning up at the very end that's part of the back story that's shaped one of the MCs. So the back story would have been brushed across during a conversation in the story then suddenly that conflict turns up in the final sentence to show that's where the next story is heading. Could be an abusive ex lover that the MC had escaped only for that person to turn up at the wedding.

Also when leaving hints throughout the story id like them to be subtle as it would drive me mad thinking 'Well what was all that about?' But subtle enough so that when the story progressed into the next book the readers mind will twig and think 'Oh that's why it happened or why they said that.'