Hmm, I'll have to look back at the chapter breaks in Torn Sky again. My feeling reading it was that it unfolds slowly rather than being full of action-y plot twists - but in a good way. I was interested in the characters and in their problems, and intrigued by their father and how there turns out to be more to him than we initially thought. But initially: slow burn, but in a good way.
NSI has been my first experience of writing something longer, and my first mystery. I actually plotted out the chapter breaks at the start, and tried to make sure there was always a hook to the next chapter ... but I think in practice I probably over-planned a bit, resulting in some cheese-tastic cliffhangers (some of which I've enjoyed more than others) and not enough room to manoeuvre when I had to change things. Difficult, because the plot I've been trying to handle is so big and multi-stranded that I've had to do a lot of detailed planning, and there were times I've felt like it was constricting and there's less room to be spontaneous with humour or let characters and relationships grow organically and surprise me.
Beyond cheesy cliffhangers (like pretending to kill Riza! my timing with that one was funny) my idea has been to somehow 'advertise' in each chapter that some interesting development is going to happen in the next chapter. It's been a learning experience and once I've finished I'll probably ask my flist for concrit on the structure of the piece - I want to write a sequel but I'm sure there are lots of ways I can improve.
Re. cheaty cliffhangers - the classic Doctor Who one where you get the character in as much trouble as possible, then handwave it in five seconds at the start of the next chapter. That feels unsatisfying. I agree with you about the crappy cliffhanger you cite. With the Riza thing I felt like I couldn't take her immediately out of danger and was obliged to make the resolution as 'big' as the cliffhanger. Not sure if I succeeded, but that was what was on my mind at the time.
The sort of cliffhangers I like best are game-changing revelations that show the reader that they've been looking at things the wrong way. Papa Longstaff's drying out and making amends is a good example of that although it's not a cliffie, but I do like where it is in the centre of the chapter.
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Date: 2009-12-06 10:21 pm (UTC)NSI has been my first experience of writing something longer, and my first mystery. I actually plotted out the chapter breaks at the start, and tried to make sure there was always a hook to the next chapter ... but I think in practice I probably over-planned a bit, resulting in some cheese-tastic cliffhangers (some of which I've enjoyed more than others) and not enough room to manoeuvre when I had to change things. Difficult, because the plot I've been trying to handle is so big and multi-stranded that I've had to do a lot of detailed planning, and there were times I've felt like it was constricting and there's less room to be spontaneous with humour or let characters and relationships grow organically and surprise me.
Beyond cheesy cliffhangers (like pretending to kill Riza! my timing with that one was funny) my idea has been to somehow 'advertise' in each chapter that some interesting development is going to happen in the next chapter. It's been a learning experience and once I've finished I'll probably ask my flist for concrit on the structure of the piece - I want to write a sequel but I'm sure there are lots of ways I can improve.
Re. cheaty cliffhangers - the classic Doctor Who one where you get the character in as much trouble as possible, then handwave it in five seconds at the start of the next chapter. That feels unsatisfying. I agree with you about the crappy cliffhanger you cite. With the Riza thing I felt like I couldn't take her immediately out of danger and was obliged to make the resolution as 'big' as the cliffhanger. Not sure if I succeeded, but that was what was on my mind at the time.
The sort of cliffhangers I like best are game-changing revelations that show the reader that they've been looking at things the wrong way. Papa Longstaff's drying out and making amends is a good example of that although it's not a cliffie, but I do like where it is in the centre of the chapter.