Crafting Cliffhangers = C: Blogging from A to Z

SourceContinuing my literary devices theme, today I wanted to talk about one that creates tension and keeps the reader engaged. I wanted to talk about...

Dunh-Dunh-DUNH

the...

Cliffhanger(Merriam-Webster)1: an adventure serial or melodrama; especially: one presented in installments each ending in suspense2: a contest whose outcome is in doubt up to the very end; broadly: a suspenseful situation 

If you've ever seen a CSI episode, you know how corny cliffhangers can be. David Caruso, for example, pushes his glasses down his nose, tilts his head toward the camera, and makes some bad joke about a dead body, and then the CSI theme music blares before sending you off to a commercial. *rolling my eyes*

Sometimes a cliffhanger is at the end of a movie or book--a device used to bring the audience back for a future installment. They could be waiting months or years to find out what happened. Those kind of cliffhangers need to be spot on. People don't just wait for anything. 

Great example: the sight of Han Solo being put on Boba Fett's plan, sealed in carbonite. I thought I would die until I made sure Hans Solo made it (and it was three years between films). Note: My teenage crush on Harrison Ford probably had a little something to do with how effective this cliffhanger was.

In books, cliffhangers can be at the end of a chapter, not to be resolved until the end of the book or spread across several books. The trick... it has to be big enough to grab the reader, without being so manipulative that the reader feels annoyed. 

Or maybe that's a personal cliffhanger problem I have. If it feels contrived, I am put off. Or... if I can imagine David Caruso's cartoon-like face machinations and awkwardly unfunny word delivery along with theme music, not good.

What is your favorite cliffhanger scene in a book or movie?

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