Sunday, September 17, 2017

What We're Writing: Chapter Endings by Jenn McKinlay

     Chapter Endings. They can make you or break you as an author. I know a lot of authors sweat the first page. Not me. I sweat the end of every chapter. Every. Single. One.

     Why? The blame sits squarely on Suzanne Collins (yes, of Hunger Games fame). Back when the Hooligans required their nightly fill of stories before bedtime, we read everything from the classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (spoiler alert: the shoes are really silver) to the more modern YA books one of which was Collins’s Gregor the Overlander. 

     This series is probably my favorite of all the modern books we read together. The author made every single chapter ending a straight up, nail-biting, gut-clenching cliffhanger. The Hooligans were riveted, as was I, about the harrowing journey of a boy named Gregor who stumbles into an underworld of New York City with his two-year-old baby sister Boots. A great premise, sure, but the topper was her chapter endings. Hooligan 2 would get so distraught if I tried to end the nightly reading after a cliffhanger that I quickly learned to end reading time in the middle of a chapter.

     Needless to say, as a writer, I knew what I had to do – mind my chapter endings. And so, here is the first run at my ending for Chapter One from my current WIP (Yes, I'm plopping you into the final two pages - good luck with that):

A FINE DAY FOR MURDER: A Library Lover’s Mystery.

     “Are we late? I tried so hard to get here on time but babies have their own schedules.” Mary Murphy hurried into the crafternoon room with a baby in a sling across her chest and a padded bag the size of a small car strapped to her back.
     As if she knew she was the topic of the conversation, the mini person strapped to Mary’s front shoved a tiny fist into the air and let out a not so delicate wail.
     “Josie’s here!” Nancy Peyton clapped her hands together in delight.
     Simultaneously, she and her best friend Violet LaRue rushed forward as if they were in a race to see who could get their hands on the baby first. Given that Violet was the taller of the two women and her stride longer, she beat Nancy by an effectively placed boney elbow.
     Mary plopped the baby into Violet’s hands and dropped the bag onto the floor. She then collapsed onto the couch, looking like she didn’t intend to move for the rest of the hour.
     Both Beth Barker and Paula Turner moved forward to get in line for their turn with the infant. Lindsey Norris did not. Lindsey was not really a baby person. She didn’t have any younger siblings and had never babysat while she was growing up. While a clean sleeping baby was an adorable thing to gaze upon, when they got messy or wailed she found them somewhat terrifying.
     She backed up to allow the others access to the wee one. Little Josie did not seem to mind being passed around like a hot dish at the dinner table, still Lindsey knew what was coming. Someone was going to try and hand her the baby and Josie, knowing full well that Lindsey should never be entrusted with such a delicate being, would begin to wail in a desperate bid to be rescued. And Lindsey would not blame her one little bit.
     She turned away from the group and studied the scene out the window as if she was tracking an incoming storm on the bay. Short of running out of the room, this was her best defense against having the baby passed to her. Just the thought of holding the tiny human and her hands started to sweat, which convinced her that she’d drop the baby who’d smash like an egg. No, Lindsey figured she’d wait on the holding thing until Josie was walking or talking or even better -- driving.
     Big white fluffy clouds filled the sky. Lindsey scanned them for any distinctive shapes. Dragons, they always looked like dragons. Her gaze shifted to the town park where she saw Dennis Greaves and Sam Holloway, two of Briar Creek’s retired residents, sitting at their usual picnic table, enjoying a game of checkers as they did every day around lunchtime.
     Lindsey knew Dennis was a big Tom Clancy reader while Sam only came into the library if he was looking for car repair manuals. He was always fixing up vintage motors and the library had some manuals going back almost a hundred years. The only reason Lindsey hadn’t thrown them out was because Sam used them every now and again.
     Across from Sam and Dennis, Theresa Huston, the local tennis coach, was power walking through the park in her bright turquoise running suit. She was one of Lindsey’s favorite patrons as they shared a love of poetry, particularly Emily Dickinson. Lindsey would have waved but she doubted Theresa could see her.
     Hoping she was now safe from baby wrangling, Lindsey started to turn back toward the room when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. A car was speeding down Main Street, going way too fast for the pedestrian friendly area. Lindsey glanced at the park and saw Theresa step into the crosswalk, where pedestrians clearly had the right of way. Lindsey’s heart thudded in her chest. She had the sick feeling that the car wasn’t going to stop.
     She tracked the car, thinking surely the driver would see Theresa and slow down, but he didn’t. Instead of hitting the brakes, the driver sped up. Horror flooded Lindsey as she realized Theresa was going to get hit. She cried out and slapped her hands against the glass pane as if she could push Theresa to safety just by willing it. She couldn’t.
     With a sickening, bone crunching thump, Theresa was struck by the car. Lindsey flinched as Theresa's body flew back onto the sidewalk, collapsing to the ground as if she were a falling kite that's string had been cut. With a screech of tires, the driver of the car took off.
     Lindsey spun away from the window and bolted from the room, yelling, “Call nine-one-one! Theresa Huston was just hit by a car!”


What about you, Reds? How do you handle chapter endings? Do they make you crazy or do you just end where it seems natural? 

33 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing this, Jenn . . . now I’m anxious to read what comes next!

    I have to admit that cliffhanger chapter endings certainly compel me to keep reading, but isn’t it difficult to find a story-driven cliffhanger for the end of every chapter? I’d be just as compelled to continue reading by other kinds of chapter endings or by something that was puzzling or thought-provoking . . . .

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    1. Yes, I agree. I thin a "cliffhanger" can easily be a provoking idea or thought.

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  2. I think it was Dwight V. Swain ("Techniques of the Selling Writer") who said the scene should answer one question, and the hook at the end should raise a new question, or give the reader a glimpse of what comes next. If a writer ends the chapter with a resolution of whatever the current crisis is, the reader can put the book down. But if she ends the chapter with "and THEN . . . " we have to keep reading.

    By the way, Jenn, I can totally identify with Lindsey's attitude toward babies. While I don't mind being handed a baby, I'm not the first in line to grab someone's bundle of joy. Yes, I was the youngest and no, I wasn't often pressed into babysitting. I just don't see the charm, although I love having a conversation with them when they get to age three or four. Thank you for putting that out there so well.

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    1. Gigi - I have come to enjoy babies and children but I remember when I was shifted to the Children's dept at the library my response was, "But I don't like children." HR had no response to that - LOL - and they moved me anyway! Which turned out be awesome but still.

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  3. Whoa! Terrific! And yes, oh yes I do want to keep reading.
    I do sweat chapter endings. I think of them as hooks, reasons NOT to close the book and turn off the light.

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    1. Exactly, Hallie! I'm always afraid if a reader closes the book and shuts out the light they'll never open it again.

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  4. Great snippet.

    On chapters -- yes? I don't want the ending to sound contrived, but I do want to end the chapter on a note that makes the reader want to keep going.

    Mary/Liz

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    1. Yes, it's a tightrope walk to remain authentic and interesting.

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  5. Sweating revisions, just realized ending a chapter with the main character falling asleep is a total snore, unless she has a revelation that jerks her awake.

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    1. Funny and true. I have a tendency to end chapters on some kind of conclusion - yes, even sleep- when what I need to do is end with that unanswered question or a surprise.

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    2. I have done that! Usually when I just want to go to bed myself- LOL!

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  6. I'm a latecomer in the mystery writing gig. I'm learning all the ropes, from watching Hallie and Hank share on Atlanta chapter SINc webinar a few months back to spending two days a month with a writing coach/editor, Beth (Jaden) Terrell and she expounds repeatedly on chapter endings.
    Now that I am forcing restructure in my life, I've returned to reading and have to say, many well known authors don't always end chapters with a cliffhanger. I won't name the writer, but the most recent was a crime thriller. Thirty plus novels under his belt. I ended a chapter and closed the book and turned out the light over several chapters.
    I question the entire story writing process as a cliffhanger. Shouldn't the middle of a chapter propel the reader to the end and yet, I dose off in the middle of a chapter. As I said, I'm new to writing, but as a reader, if I enjoy your story, I'm going to pick up the book the next day and finish reading. There are so many books that I stop reading if I find I'm trudging through the scenes.
    Writing is just dang hard. That aside, Jenn, I'm a fan of your writing, but from a reader's perspective, I would end the chapter with Lindsey's hands beating the glass. If I turned out the light and rolled over in the bed, I'd be wondering did she die or attempt to dodge the oncoming car, and her legs and pelvis are damaged like Stephen King's incident. Then, I'd have to turn the light back on and read further. But I'm a better reader than a writer. Onward!

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  7. The calm before the storm, I think! All that set-up with the baby, perfect reason for Lindsay to move away--then BAM!! Yes, I'm awake now, thank you, Jen, and I'd keep reading even if I did need to be up at some ungodly hour the next morning!

    I've seen endings that are cliffhangers, endings that seem like a pause in the action/conversation with a rising beat at the beginning of the next chapter, endings that leave you hanging with one/one set of characters while the next chapter takes up the story of another character/set of characters. It all works for me if I'm intrigued by the story.

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    1. Agreed, Flora. Even if I'm just emotionally invested in the character that can be enough to lure me back.

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  8. I love that! Brilliant! Thank you, Pam. I see great things ahead for you as a writer!

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  9. This is so fascinating...and I was just talking with a pal about this! I think a BIG cliffhanger at the end of every chapter winds up being contrived and predictable. (I know this is not what you're talking about!) Forgive the clunky examples, but I said I thought a good chapter ending can be any number of compelling things: Like: someone gets an idea. ("Oh, now I know what to do.") Or an interruption--phone rings, doorbell, alarm clock deadline. A decision is about to be made. ("One of you has to be fired." "I have something to tell you.") A philosophical/momentous emotion question: "Is everything I believed wrong?" "What if she's innocent?") Or, for want of a better description, a quiet moment. "As the darkness surrounded me, I realized it didn't matter what I wanted." Or--uncertainty. A question. "I narrowed my eyes, trying to see over the heads of the crowd. Was that him?")
    I love chapter endings...and agree, sometimes cutting off a last explanatory paragraph is miraculous. I thnk about his all the time.

    In my new book, the first three chapter ending lines:
    1. Of course they're not here to thank me.
    2. "We're about to hear the opening statement from District Attorney Royal Spofford."
    3. "it proves the monster is guilty as hell."

    Now I'm obsessed with this. Hmmm.

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    1. There are definitely levels of cliff hanger. I think you can only get away with a few big ones but still every chapter ending needs to keep the interest piqued.

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    2. Exactly! So they can be little cliffs. Or coming to a cliff. Or worrying about a cliff. Wait--we need Cliff Notes!

      YOur post is so thought-provoking..and perfect timing for me! xoxo

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  10. I think there can be too many cliffhangers, Jenn. If there is a natural moment of suspense I love it but I try to make chapters end when it feels right, not break off in the middle of an interaction or action.

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    1. Yes! And sometimes I feel as if my chapter goes on and on and finding the natural ending is near impossible -- always helpful to have a body spring up then. LOL.

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  11. Right now I can't remember who it is, but one author whose books I read religiously ends chapters on a calm note.Then on the first page of the next chapter, all hell breaks loose.

    I love it.

    But really, if the story is compelling, I don't think it matters if the chapter ending is a cliffhanger or if it's the calm before the storm.

    Jenn, when is this book going to be available? You have hooked me! Also, ever since you joined JRW I've been wanting to ask if Briar Creek is loosely based on Stony Creek. (I live in Milford.)

    DebRo

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    1. Yes, it is, Deborah. I used to live in Branford and my mother's family is from Stony Creek - that quirky little village - I miss it. This book will be out in Nov 2018 since DEATH IN THE STACKS is Nov 2017. I love the idea of calm chapter endings and chaotic chapter beginnings - nice twist!

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    2. Every time i've read one of those books I've pictured Stony Creek, or the Thimble Islands!

      Looking forward to more of them!

      DebRo

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  12. What Hank said. I don't think of cliffhangers so much as shifts; something that we thought was certain isn't certain anymore.

    Here's the thing, though: I don't break my manuscript into chapters until right before I send it to my agent and editor. I write the book as scenes and then carve the chapters out. I do this because I found that I was too concerned with cliffhangers and chapter length, and it interfered with the actual story. Now I just write the story in scenes and worry about chapters at the very end of the process.

    Loved reading your excerpt, Jenn!

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    1. That is brilliant, Ingrid. A novel approach (forgive me!). I'll have to try that one of these days. I do seem preoccupied with chapter endings and keeping them interesting.

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  13. I've been seeing a trend in recent years toward much shorter chapters, with each one containing one scene rather than several. It seems this would put more pressure on the author to keep finding little cliffs to hang us over.

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    1. LOL, Jim, I agree. That seems like it would be exhausting for reader and writer!

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  14. I've noticed the authors who end with cliffhangers like this vs. those who end at the end of a scene. And some are in between - some cliffhangers but some natural scene breaks. As a reader, I still like to end with a chapter break. I'm a bit OCD about stuff like that. But if it is too bad a cliffhanger, I'll read the first couple of pages of the next chapter before I stop.

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    1. Me, too. I'll peek and if it's too intense, I'll put it down, knowing I'm going o be sucked in and should wait but I will keep thinking about it, too.

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  15. Late in the day hurrah for a great cliff-hanger!!!

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  16. Didn't make it to the blog yesterday, but couldn't pass the opportunity to say how much I enjoyed the excerpt. I really enjoy your Library Lovers series, Jenn!

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    1. Thank you so much, Susan. That's lovely of you to say.

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