Cliffhangers in Picture Books #NaPiBoWriWee

If you did NATIONAL PICTURE BOOK WRITING WEEK - #NaPiBoWriWee - with Paula Yoo, you should have manuscripts in progress. Before you submit any, make sure they're as strong as possible.

When we talk about cliffhangers, most people think of the chapter endings in novels. But even a picture book can have a sort of cliffhanger. Take a look at these first few pages from Police Officers on Patrol, by Kersten Hamilton and illustrated by R. W. Alley.

1.    Uniform! Badge! Radio! Police Officers, getting ready to go!
2.    Squad report—Sergeant Santole. “People need help! Let’s rock and roll!”
3.    A broken light might cause a crash! Who can help? Who is fast?

Hey, look at those last two sentences — they make a cliffhanger! The first three pages act as a sort of chapter, ending in the cliffhanger question, “Who will help prevent the crash?” This 144-word picture book has three of these episodes, each with its own cliffhanger. If you write picture books and have been told your work is "Too quiet," or if you have trouble writing a picture book under 1000 words, study Kersten Hamilton to see how much action a skilled writer can pack in to a few words.

Let's look at an even trickier example, a nonfiction picture book, Blind Tom: The Horse Who Helped Build the Great Railroad, written by Shirley Raye Redmond and illustrated by Lois Bradley. This is the story of a blind horse who worked on the transcontinental railroad. Here's an excerpt from a few pages in:

     But the workers needed help. They had to move heavy iron rails and spikes, which were piled onto flatcars. The cars were very hard to pull.
     What do you suppose could help pull the flatcars?

—Again, a question acts as a cliffhanger. We turn the page to find out the answer...

     Horses!

This page continues with some new information, ending in yet another question. The entire narrative follows this kind of question and answer format.

In both these picture book examples, questions act as cliffhangers. If the reader thinks she knows the answer, she'll turn the page to find out if she's right. If she doesn't know the answer, she'll turn the page to find out what it is. Kersten Hamilton notes that with novels, the questions at the chapter ends are implied. With picture books, the author asks the questions outright—you are teaching children how to read and understand a story.

Questions aren't the only possible cliffhangers, of course. Action or other dramatic moments can be used, just as in novels. In Stellaluna, written and illustrated by Janell Cannon, Stellaluna gets separated from her mother. One early page ends like this:

     By daybreak, the baby bat could hold on no longer. Down, down again she dropped.

Of course we are going to turn the page to find out where she lands.

Illustrators can use cliffhanger techniques as well. According to another writer, David Weisner said that in his award-winning wordless picture book Flotsam, he used images as cliffhangers. Take a look at the book and see what you think.

Exercise: Grab a stack of published picture books. Go through them slowly, looking for the cliffhanger moments. How many are there? How do they work to encourage the reader to turn the page? If you don't find a cliffhanger, could you rewrite the text to add dramatic tension to certain moments?

Chris Eboch is the author of over 40 books for children, including nonfiction and fiction, early reader through teen. Her writing craft books include You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers, and Advanced Plotting. Learn more at www.chriseboch.com or her Amazon page.

You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers is available for the Kindle, in paperback, or in Large Print paperback.

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How to edit your work and get critiques.

Where to learn more on various subjects.

Whether you’re just starting out or have some experience, this book will make you a better writer – and encourage you to have fun!

Use Powerful Cliffhangers in Quiet Times

Here’s part three of my essay on cliffhangers. Get the whole essay, along with lots of other good stuff to make your manuscripts stronger, in Advanced Plotting.

Quiet Cliffhangers

If you don’t have an action novel, you can still have dramatic chapter endings, whether or not the characters are in physical danger. In a young adult romance, for example, the drama may come from social humiliation at school and awkward or exciting moments with the love interest. Play up those moments for maximum effect.

Not every chapter has to end with a major cliffhanger. Sometimes it feels more natural to end the chapter at the end of the scene, especially if that scene is followed by a jump to a different time and place. You can end in a quieter moment, so long as you’re still looking forward. Here’s an example from The Amethyst Road, by Louise Spiegler. Serena has been searching for her mother for over 200 pages, believing that her mother will be able to put the family back together. But when she finds her, this happens:

     Mother’s smile vanished. “But, Serena, how can I help? The Cruelty won’t even let me care for my own children.” She raised her face to mine. “Look at me. I can hardly help myself, daughter. How can I help you?

This works as a cliffhanger because the response is a challenge to Serena’s expectations and hope. What will she do now? The reader will turn the page, wanting to know.

In this example from The Farwalker’s Quest, by Joni Sensel, the two main characters have a quiet moment before setting out again on their journey:

     They worked out a plan. After Pres left them to sleep, Ariel and Zeke only lay back and gazed at the ceiling. His toes, warm against her calf, seemed to say all that was needed between them. This night in a real bed would be the last for a long time to come.

This looks towards the future, reminding the reader that their troubles are not over.

Cliffhangers are a powerful tool to build suspense. Choose a dramatic moment, expand the moment with sensory details for drama, and use short paragraphs and sentences for impact. You’ll keep readers turning the page.

 Advanced Plotting is designed for the intermediate and advanced writer: you’ve finished a few stories, read books and articles on writing, taken some classes, attended conferences. But you still struggle with plot, or suspect that your plotting needs work.

Advanced Plotting can help.

Buy Advanced Plotting for $9.99 in paperback on Amazon or as a $2.99 e-book on Amazon or Smashwords.

Write Better with Powerful Paragraphing

Here’s part two of my essay on cliffhangers from Advanced Plotting:

Powerful Paragraphing

Description can usually be kept together in one longer paragraph. Action reads better when broken into short paragraphs. Short paragraphs can actually make the story read faster, because the eye moves more quickly down the page. You can also emphasize an important sentence by starting a new paragraph or even putting that sentence into a paragraph by itself. For example, consider the following two action scenes:

Example 1:

     My car picked up speed as it rolled down the steep hill. The light at the bottom turned yellow so I stepped on the brakes. The car didn’t slow down. The light turned red as I pressed harder, leaning back in my seat, using my whole leg to force the brake pedal toward the floor. My car sped toward the intersection while other cars entered from the sides. I sailed into the intersection, horns blaring and brakes squealing around me as I passed within inches of two cars coming from each side.

Example 2:

     My car picked up speed as it rolled down the steep hill. The light at the bottom turned yellow.

     I stepped on the brakes. The car didn’t slow down.

     The light turned red.

     I pressed harder, leaning back in my seat, using my whole leg to force the brake pedal toward the floor.

     My car sped toward the intersection. Other cars entered from the sides.

     I sailed into the intersection. Horns blared and brakes squealed around me.

     I passed within inches of two cars coming from each side.

These use nearly the same words. The only differences are that in the second version I broke up some long sentences into short ones, and I use seven paragraphs instead of one. I think the second version captures more of the breathless panic that the narrator would be feeling.

Take another look at your drama scenes, especially those at the end of a chapter. Can you make them stronger by breaking long paragraphs up into shorter ones? Play around before you make a final decision. Maybe putting each sentence in its own paragraph is going too far, giving the scene a choppy feel. Maybe you want to alternate between longer and shorter paragraphs, with a single word in the last paragraph. Try some variations and see what has the most impact.

Next week: Quiet Cliffhangers

 

Advanced Plotting is designed for the intermediate and advanced writer: you’ve finished a few stories, read books and articles on writing, taken some classes, attended conferences. But you still struggle with plot, or suspect that your plotting needs work.

Advanced Plotting can help.

Buy Advanced Plotting for $9.99 in paperback on Amazon or as a $2.99 e-book on Amazon or Smashwords.

Better Pacing with Cliffhangers! Pack your #writing full of suspense and tension.

If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know I love cliffhanger chapter endings and think they're underused. I've written about them before, but it's time to revisit the topic. I have an essay on cliffhangers in my Advanced Plotting book; here's a section. [Updated Feb 2025]

Hanging by the Fingernails: Cliffhangers

Several years ago I had the opportunity to ghostwrite a novel about a well-known girl sleuth. (You would recognize her name.) I knew the series used cliffhanger chapter endings. That seemed easy enough — find a dramatic moment and end the chapter.

Turns out writing strong cliffhangers is a little trickier than that. The editor responded to my effort with this comment: “I would like to see more of a slow build-up toward the intense action. In horror movies, it’s always the ominous music and the main character slowly opening the closet door that scares us the most, not the moment right after she opens the door.”

She’s noting the difference between suspense and surprise.

When something happens suddenly and unexpectedly, that’s a surprise. For example, if you are walking down the street debating where to have lunch and something falls off a window ledge onto your head, you’ll be surprised (assuming you’re still conscious). But since the surprise came out of nowhere, it wasn’t suspenseful.

When writing we may be tempted to keep secrets and then let them out — bang! But suspense comes from suspecting that something will happen and worrying about it or anticipating it.

To build up truly dramatic cliffhanger chapter endings, give the reader clues that something bad — or excitingly good — is going to happen. Here’s an example from Haunted: The Ghost on the Stairs, a novel for ages 8 to 12. The narrator, Jon, isn’t sure he believes his little sister Tania when she says she can see ghosts, but goes with her to look for one as their stepfather films his ghost hunter TV show.

   At the top of the stairs, my stepfather stood in the glare of a spotlight, a few feet away from a camera. I took a step backward and tugged at Tania’s arm.    No one had seen us yet, and we could still escape.

   Tania turned to me. The look in her eyes made my stomach flip.

The moment isn’t bad for a cliffhanger chapter ending, but it could use some more buildup. Here’s how the chapter ended in the published book:

   At the top of the stairs, my stepfather stood in the glare of a spotlight, a few feet away from a camera. I took a step backward and tugged at Tania’s arm.    No one had seen us yet, and we could still escape.

   She didn’t back up. She swayed.

   I took a quick step forward and put my arm around her so she wouldn’t fall. I looked down into her face. I’d never seen anyone so white. White as death. Or white as a ghost.

   “Tania,” I hissed. I gave her a shake. She took a quick breath and dragged her eyes away from the staircase and to my face. The look in them made my stomach flip.

The first thing you may notice is that the revised version is longer. To get the most out of dramatic moments, you actually slow the pace by using more detail. Focus on using sensory details with an emotional impact.

Advanced Plotting is designed for the intermediate and advanced writer: you’ve finished a few stories, read books and articles on writing, taken some classes, attended conferences. But you still struggle with plot, or suspect that your plotting needs work.

Advanced Plotting can help.

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Paragraphing for Cliffhangers

I've talked a lot about cliffhangers in recent months. I've explored how to find your cliffhanger moments, then how to draw those out by focusing on suspense rather than surprise and using lots of detail. One step remains: paragraphing for maximum dramatic impact.

My favorite writing book ever, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne and Dave King, has a whole chapter on paragraph breaks. They note that you can add tension to a scene by using short paragraphs. With short paragraphs, the reader's eyes move more quickly down the page, subconsciously giving a sense of speed. Short paragraphs—and short sentences—also mimic the way we speak when we are upset, anxious, or in a hurry.

Let's look at an example from Haunted 2: The Riverboat Phantom. This chapter ending could be done as one full paragraph, as only one person speaks, and the action only takes a few moments.

     “Wait!” Tania shrieked as she stumbled forward, arms reaching out. I leapt toward her to catch her but realized too late that she wasn’t talking to me, or reaching for me. Her hand moved like she was grabbing an invisible arm, then she gasped and pulled back, hugging the hand to her body. My momentum carried me forward, even as I tried to stop. I felt the cold first on my arms, like icy vice grips squeezing my biceps, then waves of cold flowed down to my hands, up to my shoulders, and all through my body. I tried to breathe, but my chest felt too tight. My vision blurred and darkened. The last thing I saw was Tania’s horrified face, before I fell.

But that big paragraph with long sentences gives a feel of rambling narrative. In comparison, the following version (as published), uses shorter paragraphs and shorter sentences, focusing down to a single three-word sentence in the final paragraph, which gives each moment clarity and impact.

     “Wait!” Tania shrieked. She stumbled forward, arms reaching out. I leapt toward her to catch her.
     Too late, I realized she wasn’t talking to me, or reaching for me. Her hand moved like she was grabbing an invisible arm. She gasped and pulled back, hugging the hand to her body.
     My momentum carried me forward, even as I tried to stop. I felt the cold first on my arms, like icy vice grips squeezing my biceps. Then waves of cold flowed down to my hands, up to my shoulders, all through my body.
     I tried to breathe, but my chest felt too tight.
     My vision blurred, darkened. The last thing I saw was Tania’s horrified face.
     And I fell.

Exercises: Study a few published books. Flip through a chapter, not reading it, but looking at the white space. Does it change toward the end of the chapter, with shorter paragraphs? Then look at sentence lengths—do they change toward the end of the chapter?

If the book you're studying does not change (and many published books do not), try rewriting the chapter ending using the cliffhanger techniques I've been discussing —suspense rather than surprise, plenty of detail, and finally short paragraphs and short sentences.

Then look at some of your own work. Can you add drama to the chapter endings with these techniques? Good luck!

Cliffhanger Cheats

Yes, we're still talking about cliffhangers (I love them so much!) But there are some I don't love—the cheats. These can do more harm than good.

Cheat cliffhangers come in two flavors. The first involves a fake or misleading cliffhanger moment. I remember reading an older book about a certain famous girl detective. She and her friends were investigating mysterious happenings in an old castle. In one chapter, they were standing on a cliff, looking at the castle. Suddenly a storm blows up! Lightning hits the tree next to them! A branch falls!

…. And at the start of the next chapter, they leaped out of the way, then go about their business. The storm had nothing to do with the plot, and wasn't even set up. This kind of random, forced cliffhanger is more likely to leave the reader feeling baffled than excited.

The lesson here: Cliffhangers should fit naturally into the plot. If you don't have a cliffhanger moment, revise your plot to add one, rather than trying to force one in. (It can be fun to occasionally have tense moments that turns silly, such as a vicious-looking dog that leaps toward your main character, only to cover her face with slobbery kisses. This builds tension, then releases it with comic relief. Don't use these so often that your readers come to expect them, though, or they won’t believe in the danger.)

The second kind of weak cliffhanger is the "If I had known" ending. You see it far too often -- everything seems to be going well, but the narrator says, "If I had known then what would happen, I never would have gone," or something similar. These endings pull me out of the story. I was right there with the narrator, in the present. But wait, now she's talking from future knowledge? When is now? It’s even more clunky when it's a third person narrator. Don't jump through time to give us insight that the character doesn't have yet. It's lazy, and feels like the author is saying, "I know it's not exciting right now, but just wait! It gets better!" Don't tell me it will be exciting, make it exciting now.

So what do you do if you have to end a chapter when things are going well? Even in good times, you can still have foreboding. In the (not yet published) fourth Haunted book, I had a moment where everything seemed under control, but I ended the chapter like this:

     I still had a bad feeling. I tried to shake it off. What did I think I was, psychic?
     But I didn't have to be psychic to know that nothing comes easily, or without a price.

This keeps us in the moment, in Jon's head, but because he feels uneasy, the reader gets the sense that things aren't so great after all. (See my post two weeks ago for more on how to end a chapter in a quiet moment, and still have a sense that the story is driving forward.)

But what if you want your character to mistakenly believe that everything is fine, with no sense of danger ahead? This can lead to even greater drama, when the character’s expectations are cruelly disappointed. Here's a neat little trick. From our experiences in reading, we expect reversals. When we hear "Nothing could possibly go wrong now," what do we expect?  Yes, we expect chaos and destruction to follow. In literature, the sense that everything is perfect actually leads us to expect the opposite (except at the very end of the book). Note that this works for middle grade through adult readers, but not for younger readers, who don't have the story experience to expect reversals.

Next week—cliffhangers in picture books!

A Little Change for A Lot More Tension

If you've been following this blog, you know I'm a fan of cliffhanger chapter endings, whether that means pausing in the middle of an action scene, or simply ending in a quieter moment that still looks forward. So once you've chosen your cliffhanger moment, how do you make the most of it?

Sometimes you may need to add a little new material -- new thoughts, new dialogue, or even a twist in the action -- in order to build a proper cliffhanger moment. As a bonus, this may take your story in new and interesting directions.

Examples:

In Haunted: The Ghost on the Stairs, I had a scene where the kids call their father. He is a scientist who does not believe in ghosts, so they are trying to get advice on how he would research ghosts, without letting him know what's going on. To add more tension—and a cliffhanger ending—I had Mom walk in during the conversation and get upset over what she heard and misunderstood. That's much more powerful than just having the kids say goodbye to Dad and hang up. Plus, it adds a twist to the story as Mom, feeling guilty about neglecting her kids, decides to spend the whole next day with them, interfering with their plans.

In Haunted: The Riverboat Phantom, I didn’t have this ploy of Tania’s in the original outline, but needed to end the chapter with something more than just having the kids walk off.

      “I wish we could do something about Madame Natasha,” Tania said. “She makes Mom unhappy, and she’s poking in our business. We’ve just got to get rid of her.”
      I rubbed my hands over my face and yawned. I still felt kind of weak after my ghost encounter. “One thing at a time, OK? Let’s deal with Henry O’Brien [the ghost] first.”
      Tania got that look in her eyes. The one that means trouble ahead. “But maybe they’re not separate problems. Mr. O’Brien seems ready to believe the worst of everybody. And if there’s one person who deserves it, it’s Madame Natasha!”
       “You want to sic Henry O’Brien on her?”
       “Why not? It’s about time a ghost did us a favor.”

This encourages the reader to turn the page, to find out just how they sic the ghost on the fake psychic, and whether it works.

Exercise: Look over your chapter endings and see if a minor tweak to the action could create a more powerful cliffhanger. (See my June posts on cliffhangers for more help.)

Next week -- keeping your cliffhangers honest.

More on Cliffhangers

I've discussed cliffhangers before, but it's a subject worth revisiting. I read many manuscripts and even published books that don't take advantage of the power of a good cliffhanger. Back in June, I discussed how to focus on suspense rather than surprise for a cliffhanger. But what if your book doesn't have big physical action scenes? Or what if you need to end a chapter in a quieter moment, because that moment will be followed by a large jump in time or place?

You can still use a version of a cliffhanger. Try to focus on a moment that is powerful emotionally, and still looks toward the future, whether because of anticipation of what comes next or disappointment over what just happened.

Examples:

In The Amethyst Road, by Louise Spiegler, the main character spends much of the book searching for her mother. She believes finding her mother will solve her problems, but instead of a joyful reunion, their meeting goes like this:

     “Her gaze swept over me. The hollows in her cheeks and under her eyes stood out like smudges of dirt. It had been three years since I’d seen her, but she’d aged at least ten. Her expression was measuring, distrustful. She moved as if expecting harm.
     I fell back. Did she fear me? Was it possible—did she not know who I was?

Serena pushes on, making contact, and finally explaining her problem to her mother. Serena's sister has had a baby, who has been taken by "The Cruelty," a sinister version of child protective services. This chapter ends with another twist against Serena's expectations and hope, a severe disappointment which will force her to start solving her problem from scratch:

     Mother’s smile vanished. "But, Serena, how can I help? The Cruelty won't even let me care for my own children." She raised her face to mine. "Look at me. I can hardly help myself, daughter. How can I help you?

In I Am Jack by Susanne Gervay, Jack is having a problem at school, and desperately needs help. Even the frustration of not being able to get a mother's attention can provide a cliffhanger, as you see by this Chapter 1 ending:

     At last, Mom to myself.  “Mom, Mom.” She is making dinner already and Samantha’s helping her with the pasta sauce.
      “Later, Jack darling. When I’m finished making dinner.”
      “Don’t call me darling, Mom.” I slump onto the couch. Later. That’s a joke. Rob will be here soon and then there will be dinner, washing up and I have to have a shower and there’s homework and television. Mom will be tired. There’ll be NO time and I HAVE to talk to Mom.
     I think I’m in BIG trouble.

Sometimes you may even have a dramatic cliffhanger moment, but if you end the chapter there, you have only a couple of paragraphs before jumping to a new scene. It may feel more natural to end the chapter at the end of the scene or end of the day. That’s fine, if you still set up anticipation, as Joni Sensel does in The Farwalker's Quest:

     They worked out a plan. After Pres left them to sleep, Ariel and Zeke only lay back and gazed at the ceiling. His toes, warm against her calf, seemed to say all that was needed between them. This night in a real bed would be the last for long time to come.

That last sentence emphasizes that their challenging journey isn't over yet. It's a quiet moment, but it promises more action to come. So go ahead and end in a quieter moment sometimes—so long as you're still looking forward.

Exercise: Go through your manuscript, or even a published book. Look for quiet chapter endings. Do they still drive the story forward, with anticipation for the future? If not, can you rewrite them so that they will?

Check back over the next two weeks for suggestions on minor story adjustments that can put power behind your cliffhangers, followed by a discussion of cliffhangers in picture books.

More on Cliffhangers

As noted last week, cliffhanger chapter endings drive the story forward. But they can also inspire new dramatic events. If you have to find a way to add a scary or exciting twist at the end of the chapter, the scene automatically becomes more dramatic.

In the Haunted series, I try to keep my chapters to about 1500 words. If I can't find a cliffhanger moment within 1600 words, maybe there isn't as much action as I want. If a chapter goes longer, I split it in two—which forces me to add a new cliffhanger halfway through the chapter.

For example, in Haunted book 4: The Ghost Miner's Treasure (not yet published), I had a chapter that was going on too long. I looked back through it, especially at the 1200 to 1600 word point, to see if I had a moment I could turn into a strong chapter ending. I found this:

          There was another guy in the room. He had shaggy dark hair and skin that looked like he spent every day in the sun. He stared at us a moment, with black eyes that kind of gave me a shiver, then looked down at the map spread across his table.
          The old guy bustled around, pulling out books and boxes and stacking them on an empty table. I sighed. This looked like it might take awhile. Tania sat down, and I moved up next to her. I jumped back when my elbow seem to hit a wall of cold. I must've gotten too close to the ghost. There really wasn't room for all of us.
          "Hey, why don't I go find Mom, while you get started," I said. "She'll worry if she doesn't know where we are."

There's something potentially dramatic there -- a physical encounter with the ghost. But they've already gotten to know the ghost, and it's just a slight brush of the elbow, so it passes in a moment. To build that into a cliffhanger chapter ending, I changed it to this:

          When I glanced up, I saw the dark-haired guy staring at us, with black eyes that kind of gave me a shiver. For some reason, he reminded me of the fortune teller, and her words "Bad luck" seemed to echo in my brain.
          I guess I took a step back without realizing it. I let out a yelp as I stepped into a wall of cold.

I took a small moment and made it bigger. Because the reader already knows the freezing effects of ghosts, they'll wonder what happened when Jon backed into one. This also allowed me some humor at the start of the next chapter, as Jon knocks into the museum curator. Books go flying, Jon has to somehow explain what happened, and he draws even more attention from the spooky guy.

Tip: To keep the plot action-packed, check your pacing by noting your chapter lengths. If some chapters go on much longer than others (proper length varies by genre and age range), look for places to add action.

Cliffhangers!

Cliffhanger chapter endings have the obvious advantage of driving the story forward. Not every chapter has to end in a cliffhanger (I personally get annoyed when there's never a good place to put down the book. Sometimes I have to do other things!) But using cliffhanger chapter endings regularly throughout your manuscript can help build drama and keep the reader turning the pages.

If you want a cliffhanger, it's not enough to just suddenly throw something at your character. I ghost wrote a book for a series known for its cliffhanger endings. After I turned in my manuscript, I got this comment from the editor: “I would like to see more of a slow build-up toward the intense action. In horror movies, it’s always the ominous music and the main character slowly opening the closet door that scares us the most, not the moment right after she opens the door.”

She's talking about the difference between suspense and surprise. Surprise is startling, because it's not set up. However, there's no tension leading up to it. It's slow until something smacks you in the face, and can feel more random and baffling than dramatic. (A car that rear-ends you out of nowhere is a surprise. Losing your brakes at the top of a steep hill is suspenseful.) For suspense, give clues that something is about to happen. Often this means expanding the scene a bit, using more sensory details and more emotional thoughts, expressions or actions.

As an example, here's an early version of a chapter ending in The Ghost on the Stairs. Jon is starting to believe that Tania really sees ghosts, and they are trying to find out if they can communicate with one.

            “All right,” I said. “Let’s go back in now. We can just stand near the bottom of the stairs, and pretend that we’re talking to each other and watching the filming.”
            Tania nodded. She took a deep breath and led the way inside.

Here's my revised version, as published, with more detail to hopefully build suspense.

            “All right,” I said. “Let’s go back in now. We can just stand near the bottom of the stairs, and pretend that we’re talking to each other and watching the filming.”
            Tania nodded. She looked down, then back up, and spoke softly. “Do you think she could be dangerous?”
            I shrugged. I wasn’t sure she was anything. But that got me wondering. Could a ghost do anything to you? Did it matter if you could see it or not?
            I watched Tania as she stepped toward the door. Maybe we were going to find out.

 Now you try it -- look back at some of your chapter endings. Can you make them more dramatic, by sloooowly opening the closet door?

    * Focus on suspense, not just surprise.
    * Use more detail -- you actually slow the pace for a cliffhanger. Use sensory details with an emotional impact.
    * Use shorter sentences and short paragraphs to keep the reader's eyes speeding down the page.