If You Want A Good Cliffhanger Example, The Magicians (tv Show) Has A Great One At The End Of Their Second

If you want a good cliffhanger example, the Magicians (tv show) has a great one at the end of their second season. Instead of “life or death” stakes, they relied on individual arcs and side-stories throughout the season that didn’t connect until that final twist.

Spoilers Below

The cool thing about the ending is that they didn’t put their characters in danger (well, some of their characters were in ambiguous danger, but as viewers we weren’t sure how much); they took away something the characters value and count as their source of strength: magic itself.

Basically, the characters killed a minor god (who was threatening to destroy the fantasy world he’d helped create because he was bored, meaning the deaths of millions of sentient fantasy people/creatures) and the elder gods took magic as a consequence. This worked because they’d already established that gods have parents through a previous, individual character arc earlier in the season, and they’d established that, even if the gods don’t obviously show it, they do care about their children. The killing of the god was also necessary. It was either that or allow the god to eradicate a world he only saw as a plaything--the equivalent of a child smashing an ant farm because the ants aren’t as entertaining as they used to be. They could’ve easily ended on the cliffhanger of whether or not the god would destroy the fantasy world (as we might expect based on previous shitty use of the cliffhanger ending) but instead they finished the story they’d been building up to and made the cliffhanger the consequences of their choices.

So, the twist wasn’t “oh my god, will they make it out alive?” The twist was, “oh my god, what does a show called ‘The Magicians’ do in a world without magic? How will our characters solve problems without their main tool and source of power?” It also connected well to development of the main characters, which I won’t get into here, but basically--good twist and cliffhanger because it was deeply integrated in all parts of the story and presented consequences that went beyond the overdone “wIlL oUr ChArAcTeRs SuRvIvE???”

5 Better Ways to End Your Story

1. The Dialogue Gut-Punch

I usually imagine this ending happening after some great, destructive plot twist or long-kept secret has been revealed to the narrator and/or reader. There is shock and awe and maybe some betrayal. This is where you fully feel the effects of what has changed, the beginning versus the end. And in this case, the end is not ideal.

Maybe the resolution’s scene has been set, but that’s not offering enough closure. How to tie up the loose end? A short (and I mean short) piece of dialogue. It usually involves a sense of resolve and acceptance, even if the resolution at hand is otherwise displeasing or harrowing. The gut-punch comes from that acceptance, that acknowledgment of what has been lost in the quest to fulfill their goals. Doesn’t always mean defeat or a pyrrhic victory, but all protagonists must lose things while trying to gain others. This is where that character and the reader feels the loss in the wake of a resolution. 

2. A Question and an Answer

This is a lot like #1, only there’s a different setup. Instead of a scene being laid out and then one line of dialogue, there are three components. The scene is set, a question is asked, then an answer is provided. The end. The question and answer usually revolve around the reflection of what has changed. A “what now?” for all intents and purposes. Can be used for a mysterious ending to a standalone or a setup for the next installment in a series.

It is worth noting that the answer does not always have to be dialogue. For example, a character could ask: “So this is what we have left?” and then a (brief) description is given of a ragtag crew that’s survived the whole story. Play around with it. 

3. The Full Circle

There are a couple ways to go about this ending. Two, in particular, are my favorite.

A) The story begins with a scene that has a very specific tone and attitude of the main character(s). The end of the story is a very similar scene (through setting, circumstance, characters, etc. as long as it’s obvious the last and first scene parallel each other). However, the last scene has the opposite tone and the opposite attitude. If the first scene is hopeful and the MC is full of naivete and energy, then the last scene is melancholy and the MC has been washed away into tired hopelessness. Or vice versa. Offers sufficient closure to standalone works. For a series, it would be quite satisfying to take the first scene from the first installment and mirror/flip it for the last scene in the last installment. 

Or

B) The story comes full circle through setting (or circumstance) only. In this case, the first (or inciting incident) and last scene share a setting. But the scenes do not mirror each other overtly or consistently. The significance relies upon the setting and the changes that have been made to the setting because of what has happened. It’s a good way to symbolize similar changes in the character(s). Maybe the story begins in the MC’s childhood home, where it is bright and full of life, but when the story ends in the home, it has become desolate and empty. Something has happened to the home over time, just as something has happened to the character over time. 

Note: there is also the divergence from these two examples where the character in the beginning is not the character in the end. Most everything else remains the same. It’s been used to show succession, defeat, loss, and the passage of time. 

The Full Circle allows a nice platform to approach the reflection, the resolution, and the changes all through subverted scene similarities and symbolism. 

4. The Joke

Pretty simple. The last line is a comedic remark. It should still involve a level of reflection and/or resolution for closure and cohesiveness. And please make sure it matches the overall tone of the story (not just the scene). 

And now #5, the long one…

5. The Cliff-Hanger (But it’s actually used to its full potential)

So many times, especially with TV shows, I see a story end with a dull, exploitative cliff-hanger. Sure, it works. But it doesn’t work as well as it could. These endings usually rely upon a plot twist that has no previous setup or mild, unbelievable danger. So let’s fix that and use the crap out of a cliff-hanger’s potential. 

The plot twist with no previous setup is boring and unfair. The reader (or watcher since I brought up TV) should be thinking “oh my God” not “what the hell?”. The difference is “what the hell?” equates to confusion and sometimes the fracture of their suspension of disbelief necessary for all fictional stories. “Oh my God” equates to excitement, shock, and enthrallment. ENTHRALLMENT is the key word here, as a cliff-hanger should reel you in further just as the story ends and you become impatient for the next installment. So how do we get “Oh my God” with a plot twist (there are other ways to get “Oh my God” but since (bad) plot twists are common, we’ll use that as an example)? The answer is: we build it up, we add foreshadowing and clues for the reader to find. Let them feel like detectives as they fill in informational holes and fall down rabbit holes of speculation, even if they don’t know what they’re looking for exactly. Let them get close, but not close enough. Add red herrings. If the plot twist is a shock to the narrator, make sure they miss things the reader doesn’t miss and make sure they aren’t super reliable. It all adds to that cloud of mystery around the reveal. It keeps the reader inside the narrative, not thrust out by a plot twist that comes from thin air. Trust the reader and trust your ability to manipulate the illusion of reality. 

The mild, unbelievable danger that the cliff-hanger so often relies upon is an idea that easily triggers examples. Again, mostly TV episode endings are guilty of this. What this involves is a life-or-death situation involving a main character that the reader knows (or at least believes wholeheartedly) cannot die. Therefore the cliff-hanger’s life-or-death danger becomes the opposite because the reader believes the character will leave the situation alive. How to combat this? Easy. Don’t put them in a life-or-death situation (this also goes for scenes that aren’t cliff-hangers). It’s boring if you think or know the character will live no matter what. However, hopefully by this point, the reader is invested in the character fully and cares about their wellbeing (because their life is safe). So, exploit that. Offer up a situation where the character’s fears, vulnerabilities, and weaknesses are played against them. Because even though they may escape this situation alive, the reader will (probably) begin to wonder what other things are at risk. The character’s happiness, significant other, assets, stability, et al.  Those things become muted points when the danger is heavily reliant upon an unbelievable life-or-death situation. 

However, there is an addendum to this. If your story features a rather large MC cast and you have proven your willingness to kill off some of them in the past, then a life-or-death cliff-hanger could still maintain its intended effect. Just… don’t overuse it. 

tl;dr TORTURE YOUR CHARACTERS AND DON’T PLAY YOUR READERS FOR CHUMPS. 

//

If you take away only one thing from these 5 examples, let it be this:

The key to a satisfying ending is reflection.

It doesn’t have to be overt reflection (trust me when I say subtle reflection is usually better), but the ending should show in one way or another the changes that have taken place over the story and the resolution that has befallen the characters. The ending wraps it all up into a bite-size piece of text and is the last thing you leave your readers with. Proceed with thoughtful consideration and caution. 

Also a quick Q&A: 

Q: “I don’t know how to choose the right ending.”

A: Do a couple different things while brainstorming:

Imagine the ending of your story using each of these examples as well as others you think of

If the story is first-person or heavily driven by the MC, ask “how would this character end the telling of their story?”

Consider the overall tone and themes of your story– some endings fit those better than others

Ask “what ending offers the amount of closure I’m trying to give?”

Look at works of fiction similar to yours and their endings. Which work and which aren’t fulfilling?

This was a long post. Whew. You’re a peach if you read it all the way through. Hopefully this helps you on your writing journey. 

Hey, writeblr? 

I know a lot of us love and relate to the, “omg, I’m a gremlin who never writes and only produces weird trash” memes. But remember that you’re allowed to like your writing. 

You’re allowed to love your writing. You’re allowed to be unabashedly excited to work, and share, and come up with new ideas. You’re allowed to be proud of your work and your craft.

It doesn’t always have to be memes about how much writing sucks and, “ugh, why do I even do this?”

You’re allowed to be proud of yourself.

character: adopts another person, or two, or ten  me, immediately falling in love: 

I hope OP doesn’t mind me reblogging and adding on, but I thought a little variation in experience might help the anon, too. My family has a long history of migraines, and both my little sister and I experience them around the same time (though with different symptoms). 

Migraine attacks are typically divided into four stages: prodrome, aura, pain, and postdrome (x). The length and intensity of the stages differs between individuals; for instance, I tend to have a long prodrome and aura, but the pain and postdrome are luckily very short, and my sister has a vary short-to-nonexistant prodrome but a long and excruciating pain stage. 

The prodrome itself has a variety of symptoms involved, such as depression, anxiety, sensitivity to light/sound/smell/etc., fatigue, rapidly changing mood, difficulty concentrating, etc. In my case, the prodrome is the worst stage for me--the depression is unrelenting, and I usually am so dizzy and lightheaded that doing anything is nearly impossible (assuming I can string thoughts together long enough to do more than the most basic tasks in the first place, which doesn’t happen often during the prodrome). This is all before the pain starts, and once I get my first wave of depression, I know it’s only a matter of time (and usually get annoyed because I wish it would just start so I could get it over with already). 

Aura is a fascinating (though annoying) part of migraine attacks, though not everybody experiences it (basically what OP described above). Some people see light or color, but I think you can also experience other senses. For me, it’s little waves of... something that disturb my line of sight. They’re not exactly shadows, but they’re not light, either. Sometimes I pick up on little sounds and they turn into music (which is the closest thing to a ‘favorite symptom’ I have). 

The pain itself is just as described above. It can last between 24 and 72 hours (mine usually between 24 and 36; same with my sister). 

The postdrome is usually the “recovery” stage. Here, people are generally weak, still having trouble concentrating, and probably act like they just got thrown off a truck in the middle of the interstate (believe me, at this point, you would’ve preferred it). For me, I usually have to spend a few hours napping or doing mindless tasks (I often try to use the postdrome to catch up on missed household chores since they don’t take a whole lot of concentration, though I generally have to take long breaks between each task). My sister will get something to eat, and she acts very subdued for the few hours following the pain. 

My sister and I vary most in terms of migraine onset. For me, I generally know I’m going to get a migraine 24-48 hours ahead of the actual pain. It often starts with depression, though I’m lightheaded and have difficulty concentrating shortly after. I’m never surprised by the pain--it just slowly builds, getting worse and worse until all I can manage is to grab a cold washcloth and collapse in bed with it over my eyes until the pain recedes again (sometimes pain meds help... sometimes). Then, it’s just a little bit of recovery, and I can typically jump back into life. My biggest problem is that from the first symptom of the prodrome, I’m virtually incapacitated. I lose two to three days out of the week, which isn’t good for holding a job or keeping up with work, especially if I’m having a particularly hard time and experiencing multiple migraines a month (which... is so much fun hahah ah a ha). 

My sister, on the other hand, doesn’t have much of a prodrome. She wakes up in agony, and it’s so bad she typically vomits. The pain almost always recedes in the early afternoon, though, and she rarely (if ever) loses more than a day to the migraine (though that’s still a problem, obviously). For her, it’s sudden and intense, and she typically doesn’t get more than a few hours warning (assuming she doesn’t sleep through the prodrome, which she often does). 

My point is, you could play around with symptoms and effects for your character. Depending on treatments and pain relief, you might actually have a character who faces little disruption in their life (I’m writing this through a migraine treated with Excedrin Migraine, caffeine, and a shitton of water... and if the organization of this is really bad, that’s why lol), so it’s not technically impossible to function with a migraine (just difficult and Not Recommended). If your character is trying to function through a migraine, they’ll probably have difficulty thinking things through (like, almost comically so), will be horribly miserable, and will be very easily overwhelmed (e.g. earlier today, I got annoyed and snapped at my cat because he wouldn’t stop meowing--usually, I love when my cats are chatty, but each noise just built and built until I lost my patience, raised my voice at him, and locked him out of the room, which went over about as well as you might expect). 

Hope this helps!

Hey...how do you write someone who was a splitting headache or a migraine? I’m having trouble with that... ;w; Thank you

They are slightly different. Everyone has had a bad headache at least once, but most people never get migraines.

For both, loud noises or constant noises increase the suffering. The sufferer wants to lie down or sit down somewhere peaceful. Sufferers sometimes put pressure on or cushion the part of their head that hurts to alleviate pain. They can get short tempered if pain makes them cranky. If it’s a caffeine headache (caffeine withdrawal for an addict) having a drink of soda, coffee, or tea can relax it. If it’s heat-induced, a.k.a. heat exhaustion, the sufferer should sit down somewhere cool immediately and drink lots of water.

With a migraine any noise, light, temperature change, or movement can drastically aggravate the pain. When I or a family member gets a migraine, we go to bed with a cloth over our eyes and the curtains closed while the whole household stays quiet for 4-6 hours. Nausea/vomiting can accompany a migraine as well as a constant aura in the corner of your vision. Flashes of light are another symptom of a migraine, usually preceding the actual pain. Thankfully, migraine meds are extreme pain relievers that often put you to sleep and/or relieve nausea.

TL;DR—One can generally continue functioning with a splitting headache, but a true migraine is temporary hell.

I’ve been working on this post on and off for the last few months. I always intended to post it during Pride Month, and hey, here we are. I’ve got a lot going on in my life right now, so this might be the last book rec post for quite a while.

When possible, I’m linking to the Queer SFF Book Database since it has information on trigger warnings and links to reviews by queer readers. When not in the database of 6/15/20, I’ll be linking to Goodreads. Links are all below the cut.

Do not recommend cis authors on this post. This post is for centering trans and nonbinary authors. Please note that trans people write all sorts of stories and protagonists, and these books don’t automatically have trans or queer protagonists. 

My master list of book rec posts is here, if you want to find more.

If you’re looking for a starting place on trans SFF, I strongly suggest the Transcendent anthology series as an overview. It’ll introduce you to a wide array of incredible stories from trans and nonbinary authors. 

This list does not cover all of the amazing trans and nonbinary authors writing science fiction and fantasy! There are many more, and please feel free to suggest them here.

If you see any exclusionists or TERFs on this post, let me know without engaging and I will block them ASAP. I would prefer to keep this post a safe, positive place for trans readers. 

Keep reading

Any tips for coming up with a plot for a book?

I almost said that I don’t have any tips because the plot is often the first thing that comes to me with a story, but I’ve actually been playing with a plotless WIP idea atm so I actually have more ideas than I would have had six weeks ago!

if you have characters: what do they have strong opinions on? what do they want most in life? what do they fear most? what’s the funniest, most ironic situation you could put them in, and what’s the most heartbreaking one? what fundamental differences do your characters have and what would they fight about? (as an example, I had an angry orphan from the slums getting accepted into the country’s most prestigious university–I immediately had plot options from dealing with snooty girls to using student radicalism to foment a communist revolution)

if you have worldbuilding: what kind of characters inhabit this world? who is the most privileged person you could create, and who’s the most downtrodden? is there a war, class conflict, religious persecution, gender discrimination, or anything else that divides society and makes people hate each other? are there problems that need to be solved? are there problems that could be deviously created or worsened? who’s in a position to create/worsen these divisions, and why do they want to do that? (for example, I had a dark academia vibe that I wanted to situate in an environment of radical student protest, so my question was who what’s to start some riots and who wants to stop them?)

if you have snippets/scene ideas: what would have to come before this for it to make sense? why are these characters fighting/in love/betraying each other–what events could drive them to this? what’s the biggest twist you could put on this scene (e.g. is the declaration of love a lie?) what are the backstories of these characters? if they’re in love what’s the big thing they disagree on, if they hate each other what’s the one issue they agree on? (e.g. I know how the series ends, so now I’m trying to work out how the characters got there)

if you have vibes: what’s your favourite kind of plot (heist, superheroes, love triangle, dsytopian revolution)? what other related media can you look to for inspiration? what genre would stretch you the most to attempt? what specific knowledge or hobbies do you have that could be super helpful in creating a book that no one else could write? (e.g. I study politics at university and have taken classes on terrorism and leftwing protest movements, so I can use this to make my student protest movement more realistic!)

this is basically the loose process that I’m going through at the minute, so I hope this helps! 💚💚