Ending a scene, chapter, or story at a moment of unresolved tension so the reader has to keep going.
A cliffhanger is a storytelling device where the narrative pauses at a moment of high suspense, leaving a key conflict or question unresolved. The term comes from serialized adventure stories where characters were literally left hanging off cliffs between installments. Today it describes any moment where you cut the story at peak tension - the end of a chapter, a scene break, or even the final page of a book in a series.
Cliffhangers are your secret weapon for making readers turn the page. When you end a chapter mid-crisis, you tap into a basic human need for resolution. Mastering the cliffhanger means understanding where to cut, what to leave unresolved, and how to balance tension with payoff so your reader feels compelled rather than manipulated.
Nearly every chapter ends mid-crisis, compelling readers to push through a massive novel because they cannot stand not knowing what happens next.
Collins ends chapters with cliffhangers so consistently that the book becomes nearly impossible to put down - a masterclass in pacing through suspense.
Scheherazade literally saves her life by using cliffhangers - stopping each story at dawn so the king must keep her alive to hear the ending.
If every chapter ends on a cliffhanger, the effect becomes numbing. Vary your chapter endings between high-tension cliffhangers, quiet emotional beats, and satisfying mini-resolutions.
If the cliffhanger promises danger and the next chapter immediately defuses it, the reader feels tricked. Make sure the resolution matches the tension you built.
Cut to the thread the reader cares about most. A cliffhanger only works if the reader is emotionally invested in the outcome.
Take a scene you have already written and find the moment of highest tension. Cut the scene at exactly that point - mid-sentence if you have to. Then write a completely new scene from a different character's perspective before returning to resolve the first one. Notice how the delay changes the reader's experience.