Creating a Page Turner with Cliffhangers: NaNoWriMo Day 24

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I’m chugging along in my novel They All Died Smiling, and today I was thinking about how I end chapters. No matter what’s happening or what comes next, I like to give people a compelling reason to turn the page.

Perhaps it’s because I cut my writing teeth on Doctor Who fan fiction back in high school but I like to leave off with a cliffhanger.

This is called the Zigarnik Effect, named after a Russian psychologist who studied the cliffhanger effect.

You hear it all the time: “5 lethal chemicals you have under your sink…news at 11.”.

SO today I thought I’d share some of my suspenseful statements:

Chapter One opens with this:

I thought I was just making another Friday night commute home. I had no idea I was about to dance with the devil. Silly me.

and the chapter ends with Kass mentally asking this question:

So why did terror seep into my mind during this time of joy for my friend?

Chapter two ends with impending trouble:

I never imagined the day would turn into an emotional roller coaster. Also didn’t figure it would start me on a quest that would get me chin deep in trouble. But it sure did.

Chapter Three finishes with a chilling thought:

I knew of a similar, equally unexpected situation in another state. Could these deaths be related?

Later, Kass will discover the depth of her trouble:

Because now, the enemy knows exactly who I am.

A little further along, Kass knows she’s being watched by a demon:

“Probably just a tree branch bouncing in the wind, or maybe a bird flyhing past the street light. Not much else it could be up this high.”

“Must have been.” No, it was a pair of eyes glowing like smoldering embers, glaring at me.

While crafting each chapter, end it with a strong emotion or the promise of more conflict to come.

They All Died Smiling NANoWriMo progress update:

I’m in the low 40K range, in the home stretch to make 50K words by the end of the month. Here’s my progress bar:

I invite you to get my books on Amazon.

Do you have a good cliffhanger to share? If so, add it to the comments.

Follow your BLISS,

Ronda Del Boccio

# best sellingauthor and speaker

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