5 Cool Tips I Learned About Chapter Endings at #Sleuthfest

Now that I’ve settled back into my office, I thought it a good idea to get some of what I learned (or relearned) down on paper. Not only do I wish to share what I've learned with my writer friends who weren't able to attend Sleuthfest, but so I can easily find these tips and tricks when I’m looking for inspiration. Don't worry, these tricks can work well for any fiction genre.

1. Throw out obstacles.

Ending a chapter by throwing your protagonist a curve ball, something he or she didn't expect, is a sure way to make the reader continue reading.

An example of this technique is the way I ended my first chapter in Hera’s Revenge, when a tour participant falls down several steps at the Acropolis but is afraid to tell anyone that she may have been pushed, and at the end of the chapter tells everyone she’s fine, the stakes are increased and the consequences grave.  

Thanks to Miriam Auerbach for sharing this tip!

3. Inspire the reader’s curiosity.

Leave the reader with a question as to what will happen next and they’ll be sure to turn the page.

In Celtic Curse, a cold-case mystery set in Scotland, Yvonne and David have a clandestine meeting with the mother of one of the suspects. She bolts after a few questions and David remarks to Yvonne, “She suspects someone of something.” The chapter is ended with Yvonne responding, “Yes, but who exactly?”

Thanks to Karen Harper and Miriam Auerbach for giving their insights on this tip.

4. Break in the heat of the action.

Thriller writers frequently use this technique, leaving the reader breathless and hanging in the middle of the scene. Sometimes they won’t even resolve the scene in the next chapter. They may switch to a different character point of view or a different scene of action happening simultaneously.

This tip came from Miriam Auerbach. She gave us an example from Boca Undercover, a mystery novel in her Dirty Harriet series:

Dirty Harriet observes a woman in a drug rehab facility– End of Chapter 4: “She leaned against the wall and collapsed to the floor. ‘My children,’ she sobbed. ‘My children.’ This must have been the dead boy’s missing mother. But what did she mean by my children?”

5. Types of hook endings.

It’s important to mix up the endings and don’t overuse or repeat consecutively any type. Remember to use powerful words in your hooks so that readers relate to the story emotionally.

Here’s a list of hook endings offered from Karen Harper:

Shock
Threat
Prediction
Question
Promise
Unexpected action
Moment of extreme embarrassment
Play upon character’s worst fears

 

If you attended #Sleuthfest, can you give some different examples? If you didn’t attend #Sleuthfest, did you find this blog helpful? Will you use some of these ideas in your future writing? Please share this blog with other writers.

I’d like to thank the panel members who participated on the Chapter Endings: Cliffhangers and Continuity Panel for inspiring me to continue writing a well-crafted mystery. Thanks to Miriam Auerbach, Karen Harper, Charles Salzberg, and Moderator, Richard Wymer.