While reading a few books, I sometimes get the sense that the way the author ends a few chapters could be done better. Is the way one ends a chapter important? Do literary agents pay attention to whether it is done smoothly or not? Thanks for reading
IMO its healthy to end a chapter with a hook, it forces the reader to continue reading, and it gives you as a writer a reason to continue writing The reason I started doing it is because I saw it in the stuff I was reading (even comic books do it for Christ's sake). If the authors you are reading are not it's okay, sometimes they can get to be too much, and it's refreshing to end a chapter with a plesant sigh once and a while instead of a Sphincter clenching white knuckled cliffhanger.
it certainly could be... they pay attention to anything that would or would not make the book a good read...
Cliffhangers--some little, some big. If you're writing popular fiction, try to end each chapter with a cliffhanger. Some genres require it more than others.
I think it is, as well as the way an author begins a chapter. I'm really sentimental about stuff like that. Imo an author should set the mood of the chapter with the first sentence and/or paragraph, and should end it having the reader wanting for more.
I hadn't considered it before; I second g1ng3rsnap9ed--good beginnings set the tone. While a cliffhanger ending works, I think I would grow bored if every chapter ended that way--it would seem contrived, artificial. If you don't end on a cliffhanger, maybe end with a particulary powerful piece of imagery that lingers in the reader's mind, makes them want to pursue your characters.
For my writing, there are 2 things that can end a chapter - 1) An emotional resolution - the end of an argument or resolution of a problem 2) A logical shift - if you have people traveling from one place to another you don't need to detail every step along the way, only the interesting points. Point A can be one chapter and Point B can be another.
Dave Ball, in his book on play writing Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays, states that lines should lead into each other as though the opening is a gunshot & it is followed by a corpse. By the end of the play there should be corpses littering the stage. Metaphorically speaking, of course. With novels perhaps not every line but every paragraph or section, depending on the "type" of novel. If it's appropriate to end a chapter mid-sentence, then go for it. What is more important to me is the follow-up: end a scene or chapter with a gunshot by all means, but please follow it up with a corpse, or you'll simply have wasted a bullet, or aimed at your weapon at the reader.
A few of my more recent chapters have ended right when something dramatic happens - for instance an old mysterious character reappears unexpectedly. I ran the idea by my friend and she liked it because it creates tension and makes you want to read the next chapter.
sorry, but i can't consider that good advice... see other posters' take on the subject above... there are many other reasons for ending a chapter and to do what you advise would make for a very poorly-written novel, imo...
Some cliff hangers, carefully placed, can be great. It works especially well in stories with multiple points of view. It seems to me that good writing is a lot like grandma's kitchen sink soup. . on the surface, a little of everything, almost a mess. . but in truth, carefully selective, always utilising foods and spices, tastes and textures that go well together. Going to extremes, always doing one thing or another (unless it is following the basic rules of writing!) is probably inadvisable most of the time.
I find that starting off with a "hook" is best because you have less to lose and more to gain by doing so.
Well thanks for all the input ! ! I have not ended any of my chapters with a huge cliffhanger so far. Usually, I end it with some decent imagery and maybe an inkling of cliffhanger, though nothing too big. Thanks again for all of your comments
