The dirty secret about
cliffhangers is that they work.
Whether they’re corny, cheesy,
clichéd, obvious, predictable or downright contrived.
Sure, you may well get called a
hack and a cheap manipulator, but cliffhangers only guarantee the reader will
cross the chapter break, they don’t guarantee they’ll like what they find when they
get there.
Obviously, it would be preferable
if writers used this technique for good instead of evil. But we all know that's not how cliffhangers are used for the most part. Anyone with a television set can
see the abuse and misuse they are put to nightly. Still, it’s worth having this
weapon in your arsenal. How you use it is your affair.
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